Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia have been exchanging fire as the world awaits Tehran's retaliatory strike against Israel - which could trigger World War Three.
Hezbollah weapons caches along the border and in Lebanon’s east as far as 50 miles inside the country, have been hit by Israel. At the same time Hezbollah has responded with attacks including more than 50 rockets that struck the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The “centre of gravity” is moving away from Gaza towards the border with Lebanon for the Israeli military, said Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and he claimed recent strikes on stockpiles were “preparation for anything that might happen”.
In Gaza, Israel has issued a new round of evacuation orders for a large swath of the southern Gaza Strip, covering part of the designated humanitarian zone where it has told civilians to go.
The Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted the evacuation orders on social media, advising Palestinians east of Khan Younis to move west, toward the coast. The latest orders sends more Palestinians fleeing again into a tiny overcrowded strip of land near the sea. Many people in Gaza say there is nowhere that is truly safe, as Israel has repeatedly mounted attacks inside the designated humanitarian zone.
Israel's demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza, which Hamas has long rejected, threatens to unravel ceasefire talks aimed at ending the 10-month-old war, freeing scores of hostages and preventing an even wider conflict.
Officials close to the negotiations have said Israel wants to maintain a military presence in a narrow buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border it calls the Philadelphi corridor and in an area it carved out that cuts off northern Gaza from the south, known as the Netzarim corridor.
More than 35 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza
At least three dozen Palestinians were killed in multiple Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, said officials even as preparations moved ahead for high-level cease-fire talks in the Egyptian capital.
Among the dead were 11 members of the same family, including two children, when an Israeli airstrike hit their home in the city of Khan Younis early Saturday, according to Nasser Hospital where the bodies and wounded were taken.
The hospital received a total of 33 dead who were killed in three separate strikes in and around Khan Younis. The city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it had received another three bodies from an early Saturday strike.
Seventeen others were killed when a strike hit a road south of Khan Younis, including the passengers on a tuk-tuk and passers-by, Nasser Hospital said. Another strike hit a tuk-tuk east of Khan Younis, killing at least five people. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports but had no immediate comment.
Iranian hackers targeted WhatsApp accounts of staffers in Biden, Trump administrations
The same Iranian hacking group targeted both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns by trying to go after the WhatsApp accounts of staffers, said Meta.
The network of hackers, who posed as tech support agents for companies including AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google, went after individuals who received the suspicious WhatsApp messages and reported them.
Meta’s investigators linked the activity targeting workers for the Joe Biden administration to the same network blamed for the hacking incident reported by Trump’s campaign.
The FBI this week said a hack by Iran of the Trump campaign and an attempted breach of the Biden-Harris campaign was part of a broader Iranian effort to interfere with the US presidential election.
A statement from Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, said that the hackers had tried to target the WhatsApp accounts of individuals in the Middle East, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as political and diplomatic officials — including unidentified officials associated with the Trump and Biden administrations. A “small cluster” of accounts was blocked by Meta, the company said.
Women and children among 'at least 12 people killed' by shelling in Gaza
At least 12 people have been killed with many more injured in Israeli attacks in the central part of the Gaza Strip, said the Palistinian news agency Wafa.
The attacks were on Deir al-Balah and east of Khan Yunis with Wafa saying that those killed included displaced women and children in tents.
Ceasefire talks continue over the weekend to find Israel-Hamas truce
Ceasefire talks in Cairo have been constructive and will continue over the weekend, said the White House, as the US and Western allies seek to push Israel and Hamas into forging an agreement.
CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, a senior adviser on the Middle East to President Joe Biden, are leading the US side of negotiations that began on Thursday amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence that it maintain forces in two strategic corridors in Gaza.
“There has been progress made,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, “We need now for both sides to come together and work towards implementation.”
Mr Kirby did not detail where progress had been made, but he did insist that there’s been momentum in the conversations among the mediators from the US, Israel and Hamas’ interlocutors Egypt and Qatar.
Palestinians plan UN resolution enshrining court demand for Israel to end occupation
The Palestinians said Thursday they are planning to introduce a U.N. General Assembly resolution in September enshrining the recent sweeping ruling by the U.N.’s top court that declared Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful — and setting a time frame for it to end.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the U.N. Security Council that the resolution, which would not be legally binding, is essential to spur the end of Israel’s occupation.
“We are sick and tired of waiting,” he said. “The time for waiting is over.”
The International Court of Justice on July 19 issued an unprecedented, sweeping condemnation of Israel’s rule o ver the lands it captured 57 years ago. It called for the occupation to end and for settlement construction to stop immediately.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for an independent state.
White House insists it is making progress on Gaza cease-fire as talks continue over the weekend
The White House said Friday that cease-fire talks in Cairo have been constructive and will continue over the weekend as the U.S. and Mideast allies continue to press Israel and Hamas to forge an agreement.
CIA Director William Burns and Brett McGurk, a senior adviser on the Middle East to President Joe Biden, are leading the U.S. side of negotiations that began on Thursday amid major differences between Israel and Hamas over Israel’s insistence that it maintain forces in two strategic corridors in Gaza.
“There has been progress made,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, “We need now for both sides to come together and work towards implementation.”
ICC prosecutor insists the court has the power to issue warrants for Israeli leaders linked to Gaza
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor on Friday called on judges to “urgently” rule on his request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others linked to the Israel-Hamas war, saying the court has jurisdiction.
“It is settled law that the Court has jurisdiction in this situation,” Prosecutor Karim Khan wrote in a 49-page legal brief.
Khan called on a panel of ICC pretrial judges to “urgently render its decisions” on the requests he filed in May for warrants for Netanyahu, his defense minister, Yoav Gallant and three leaders of Hamas, two of whom have since been killed.
The brief filed by Khan came in response to legal arguments filed by dozens of countries, academics, victims’ groups and rights groups either rejecting or supporting the court’s power to issue arrest warrants in its investigation into the war in Gaza and the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel.
Fires break out on abandoned Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion that Yemen rebels attacked in Red Sea
Fires broke out Friday on a Greek-flagged oil tanker previously attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels this week, with the vessel now appearing to be adrift in the Red Sea, authorities said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what had happened to the oil tanker Sounion, which had been abandoned by its crew on Thursday and reportedly anchored in place.
The Houthis didn’t immediately acknowledge the fire. The rebels are suspected to have gone back and attacked at least one other vessel that later sank as part of their monthslong campaign against shipping in the Red Sea over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that’s disrupted a trade route that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it annually.
Aid groups in Gaza aim to avert a polio outbreak with a surge of vaccinations
The threat of polio is rising fast in the Gaza Strip, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak.
One case has been confirmed, others are suspected and the virus was detected in wastewater in six different locations in July.
Polio was eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, but vaccinations plunged after the war began 10 months ago and the territory has become a breeding ground for the virus, aid groups say. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crowded into tent camps lacking clean water or proper disposal of sewage and garbage.
To avert a widespread outbreak, aid groups are preparing to vaccinate more than 600,000 children in the coming weeks. They say the ambitious vaccination plans are impossible, though, without a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Kamala Harris confronts Democratic divisions over Gaza war in convention speech
ith anger over the war in Gaza simmering, Vice President Kamala Harris tried to defuse one of the most divisive issues within the Democratic Party on the biggest political stage of her life.
Her remarks Thursday night in her speech accepting the party’s presidential nomination hewed closely to previous statements on the conflict, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Harris said she “will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.” She’s opposed restrictions on arms sales to Israel.
Then Harris pivoted to the destruction that Israel has caused in Gaza, where 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.
“So many innocent lives lost,” she said. “Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
Israels stance on Philadelphi Corridor shows no wish for ceasefire says Hamas official
A Hamas official claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lack of willingness to withdraw troops from the Philadelphi Corridor - a strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt - shows he has no wish for a ceasefire.
Israel has been negotiating in Cairo a plan to bring about hostage releases, said Mr Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri. But Hamas official Osama Badran told AFP that the Prime Minister isn't looking for a deal after his “refusal” to remove troops from the Philadelphi Corridor.
He said that Hamas would accept “nothing less than the withdrawal of occupation forces, Philadelphi included”.
A child among seven people killed in Israeli strikes, says Lebanon
Seven people including a child were killed in Israeli raids on the towns of Tayr Harfa, Aita al-Jabal, Mays al-Jabal and Aitaroun, says the Lebanese Ministry of Health
An Israeli fighter jet also targeted the town of Yaroun, it was alleged, while Hezbollah later mourned three fighters who died in the Tayr Harfa raid.
Israel planes hit weapon depots and military targets used by Hezbollah claimed Daniel Hagari a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces yesterday.
Baby boy given artificial eye after being injured in a Gaza strike aged one week
When Mostafa Qadoura was a week old, an Israeli strike on his home in the Gaza Strip last October launched him and his crib into the air, sent shrapnel into his right eye that damaged it beyond repair and killed one of his brothers.
Mostafa was evacuated to Egypt weeks later when the hospital treating him came under siege by the Israeli army, and he has grown into a smiling and active 10-month-old with chubby cheeks. But he still faces huge challenges.
His mother and other brother were killed in a separate Israeli strike just days after he was evacuated. He will need a series of surgeries to adjust his artificial eye as his body grows. And it’s unclear whether he will return to Gaza before the war is over.
“I don’t know what to tell him when he grows up,” said his grandmother and guardian, 40-year-old Amna Abd Rabou, who was allowed in April to travel to Egypt to care for him. She and Mostafa flew to Malaysia last week for a surgery that is scheduled for Monday.
Mostafa is one of the roughly 3,500 Palestinians, mostly children, who have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. Families there have submitted requests to have at least twice that number of injured children evacuated, according to the World Health Organization.
French destroyer rescues 29 people from oil tanker under attack in Red Sea
A French destroyer rescued 29 mariners from an oil tanker that came under repeated attack in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said Thursday, while also destroying a bomb-carrying drone boat in the area.
The assault on the Sounion, the most serious in the Red Sea in weeks, comes during a monthslong campaign by the Houthis targeting ships over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that has disrupted a trade route through which $1 trillion in cargo typically passes each year.
The Sounion is now at anchor in the Red Sea and no longer drifting, the European Union’s Operation Aspides said. The vessel had been staffed by a crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, who have been taken to nearby Djibouti, the EU mission in the Red Sea said.
The Sounion has 150,000 tons of crude oil aboard and represents a “navigational and environmental hazard,” the mission warned. “It is essential that everyone in the area exercises caution and refrains from any actions that could lead to a deterioration of the current situation.”
Military officials did not name the French destroyer involved in the rescue. The Sounion also had not asked for an escort prior to the attacks, the EU mission said.
UN says Israel’s evacuation orders are pushing Palestinians into unsafe areas
The UN humanitarian office is warning that mass evacuation orders by the Israeli military this month are pushing Palestinians into overcrowded and unsafe areas along the Gaza coast.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the latest orders issued Wednesday for part of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south affect 115 sites with more than 150,000 displaced men, women and children, including U.N. and many informal and makeshift shelters.
The orders also impact offices, warehouses and residences of the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, and have made three water wells serving tens of thousands of people inaccessible, he said. “In Deir al Balah, the water supply has decreased by 70%, and there are also critical shortages of sanitation and hygiene materials,” Mr Dujarric said.
US calls on UN Security Council to urge Hamas to compromise in ceasefire talks
The American ambassador to the United Nations is asking the Security Council to unite and use its leverage to urge Hamas to accept a proposal meant to bridge gaps in ceasefire talks with Israel.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council Thursday that it’s “a decisive moment” for the talks that resumed in Qatar this week and for the region. She urged all 15 council members to keep sending strong messages “to other actors in the region to avoid actions that would move us away from finalizing this deal.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said a U.S. resolution endorsing a cease-fire plan that the Security Council approved in June has had no impact and Israel “is continuing its brutal operation” in Gaza. He accused the U.S. of modifying the original deal to suit close ally Israel.
A sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas has long rejected continued Israeli control of the areas and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
At least 17 people killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes say Palestinian health officials
Israeli strikes have killed at least 17 people in the Gaza Strip, say Palestinian health officials.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received the bodies, which were counted by an Associated Press reporter and included the remains of a woman and three children, after strikes overnight and into Thursday.
The attack came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar as he pressed ahead with the latest diplomatic mission to secure a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain.
Diplomatic efforts had redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.
China warns citizens to leave Lebanon due to Hezbollah-Israel tensions
China has warned its citizens in Lebanon of the “severe and complex” security situation in the country, as hostilities between Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military continue to intensify.
Beijing has suggested that its nationals should leave while commercial flights are still available due to the uncertainty of the situation.
“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, strengthen safety precautions and emergency preparedness, and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,” the statement said.
Major countries have called on its citizens to leave the country, as fears mount of the conflict in southern Lebanon escalating into war across Lebanon and possibly the region.
China earlier this month, days after an Israeli strike in southern Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander, called on its citizens to “exercise caution when traveling to Lebanon in the near future.”
Israel’s evacuation orders have displaced 90% of Gaza residents, UN says
Successive Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza, including 12 just this month, have displaced 90% of its 2.1 million residents since the Israel-Hamas war began last October, often multiple times, the top United Nations humanitarian official for the Palestinian territory says.
Muhannad Hadi said the evacuation orders are endangering civilians instead of protecting them. “They are forcing families to flee again, often under fire and with the few belongings they can carry with them, into an ever-shrinking area” that is crowded and unsafe," he stated.
Civilians are being deprived of medical care, shelter, water wells and humanitarian supplies, “running from one destroyed place to another, with no end in sight,” he continued.
The evacuations are also the latest threat to U.N. personnel working in Gaza and affects humanitarian facilities, according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who cited as an example that the U.N. World Food Program lost access to its warehouse in central Deir al-Balah.
“This was the third and last operational warehouse in Gaza’s middle area,” Dujarric said. “Five community kitchens operated by WFP have also been evacuated, as the agency seeks new locations for them.”
Kamala Harris calls for end to Gaza war as she accepts Democratic nomination
Vice-President Kamala Harris vowed to work toward an end to Israel’s war against Hamas as she accepted the Democratic nomination for the upcoming US elections.
She said she would seek a ceasefire that could stabilize the Middle East, while not hesitate to protect US forces from aggression by Iran and other adversaries.
She pledged to “always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself” after Hamas’ October 7 attack, pushing for the release of the hostages and the implementation of a ceasefire deal, she highlighted the plight of Palestinian civilians as well.
But pro-Palestinian protesters and members of the “uncommitted” movement in the arena sharply criticized convention organizers for not inviting a Palestinian American onstage.
“What has happened in Gaza in the last 10 months is devastating, so many innocent lives lost,” Ms Harris said. “Desperate, hungry people fleeing to safety over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
At least 22 killed in Israeli strike, Palestinian health officials
At least 22 people have been killed in Gaza so far today, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israeli outlet Haaretz reported at least 11 people were killed in a strike on a residential building in northern Gaza in the town of beit lahiya in the early hours of the day.
It comes as Israeli forces pressed deeper into areas of the enclave on Thursday.
Air strikes death toll rises to 16 in Gaza Strip
Israeli air strikes overnight and into Thursday have killed at least 16 people in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials say.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received 10 bodies, including the remains of a woman and three children, after the strikes. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.
A man held the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud as a woman next to him wept, saying: "My love, my soul."
The Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas's October 7 attack has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants or civilians.
Israeli air strikes kill 10 people in Gaza strip, say Palestinian health officials
Israeli air strikes overnight and into Thursday have killed at least 10 people in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials say.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received 10 bodies, including the remains of a woman and three children, after the strikes. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.
A man held the body of a child wrapped in a white shroud as a woman next to him wept, saying: "My love, my soul."
The Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas's October 7 attack has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants or civilians.
Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted around 250. Around 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential areas.
IDF intelligence chief says October 7 failures weigh on his conscience 'day and night'
The outgoing head of Israeli military intelligence says the failures of October 7 will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva said Wednesday that he bore responsibility for the intelligence breakdowns that allowed Hamas to carry out the cross-border attack that day that sparked Israel's ongoing war against the militant group.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others in the deadliest attack in Israeli history. The army has come under heavy criticism in Israel for its failure to predict the attack and its slow response that day. Haliva announced his resignation in April.
Speaking at a handover ceremony with his successor, Haliva said the bitter memories of October 7 weigh on his conscience "day and night and will do so for the rest of my days."
"We did not fulfill our most important mission, giving a warning of war" he added, breaking down in tears at one point while he spoke about his family. The ultimate responsibility for the failure of the intelligence division rest with me."
Warning mass evacuation orders by IDF pushing Palestinians into unsafe Gaza areas
The UN humanitarian office is warning that mass evacuation orders by the Israeli military this month are pushing Palestinians into overcrowded and unsafe areas along the Gaza coast.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the latest orders issued Wednesday for part of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south affect 115 sites with more than 150,000 displaced men, women and children, including U.N. and many informal and makeshift shelters.
The orders also impact offices, warehouses and residences of the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, and have made three water wells serving tens of thousands of people inaccessible, he said.
"In Deir al Balah, the water supply has decreased by 70%, and there are also critical shortages of sanitation and hygiene materials," Dujarric said.
The U.N. spokesman said Israel has issued 11 evacuation orders so far in August affecting about 250,000 people. Before August, he said, the U.N. estimated that some 90% of Gaza's 2.1 million people had been displaced at least once since Hamas' attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the ongoing conflict.
The Israeli orders have also cut of sections of the main Salah al-Din road, a key route for delivering humanitarian aid, Dujarric said.
At least 637 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in West Bank - health ministry
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 637 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state. Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank that are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers.
They have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say
The Palestinian Health Ministry says three people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the occupied West Bank.
It said the apparent strike was carried out overnight into Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a built-up residential area dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. It did not say whether those killed were fighters or civilians.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israeli forces carry out near-daily raids in the West Bank that often ignite gunbattles with Palestinians. Palestinian militants have carried out a series of attacks against Israelis.
Parents of American held by Hamas appeal for hostages' release during Democratic convention
The parents of a 23-year-old American taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel gave a moving speech Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention, pleading for the release of the dozens of people who continue to be held captive in Gaza.
"This is a political convention. But needing our only son - and all of the cherished hostages - home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue," said Jon Polin, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin lost part of his left arm and was kidnapped from Israel by militants who attacked the music festival he was attending.
Polin and his wife, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, were greeted with an extended ovation and chants of "bring him home" by the thousands of Democratic delegates in Chicago.
They steered clear of politics in their 10-minute speech, but Jon Polin said the families of the American hostages meet regularly in Washington and are heartened to see bipartisan support for securing the release of their loved ones. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, he said, are "both working tirelessly" for a deal between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages.
"Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you, stay strong, survive," Rachel Polin-Goldberg said.
She and her husband wore stickers with the number 320, drawing attention to the number of days their son has been held.
Strikes launched by Hezbollah in occupied Golan
Hezbollah has launched rockets on Golan Heights in Syria.
The occupied territory was hit by dozens of rockets as fears grow for war on a global scale. The strikes follow overnight Israeli attacks on Lebanon in which the IDF said it hit Hezbollah weapons facilities.
Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed and 30 injured in the overnight strikes.
Suspected Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one
A drone attack in Lebanon thought to be from Israel has killed a Palestinian commander.
The car was targeted in the city of Sidon, south Lebanon, on Wednesday morning. Al Jazeera has named the man killed as Khalil al-Maqdah, a senior officer of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.