Gaza Crisis
Live Reporting
Israeli negotiators voice ‘cautious optimism’ over Gaza deal
Israeli negotiators have expressed “cautious optimism” about moving towards an agreement on a Gaza ceasefire after talks in Doha, Netanyahu’s office said according to Al Jazeera.
“The team expressed cautious optimism to the prime minister regarding the possibility of advancing towards a deal based on the latest American proposal,” a statement said.
No one should undermine efforts to reach Gaza ceasefire deal: Biden
US President Joe Biden has said that no party in the Middle East should undermine efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that he claimed was now in sight, but he warned that it was “far from over”, Reuters reports
“No one in the region should take actions to undermine this process,” Biden wrote on social media.
40,074 Palestinians killed in Israeli offensive, Gaza health ministry says
At least 40,074 Palestinians have been killed and 92,537 injured in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since October 7, Reuters reports quoting a statement from the enclave’s health ministry.
Israeli ministers under fire as protests erupt at their doorsteps: Report
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that dozens of Israelis have gathered outside houses of ministers and public officials across the country, protesting against the government and calling for a deal to secure the release of the captives held in Gaza.
The newspaper reports that some of the protesters, some blindfolded and others holding signs, were scattered along Likud politician Yuli Edelstein’s route as he was making his way to his synagogue.
UNRWA claims only 11% of Gaza is part of ‘humanitarian zone’
Israel’s latest evacuation orders have pushed thousands more families out of their homes and shrunk Gaza’s declared “humanitarian zone” even further, says the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Now, the “humanitarian zone” encompasses just 11 percent of the war-torn enclave, said the UN agency, with displaced people left in “chaos and fear”.
As we reported earlier, Israel issued two new evacuation orders today — telling residents of numerous neighbourhoods in northern and central Gaza to flee immediately.
Innocents pay the ultimate price
Israel’s attack in central Gaza’s az-Zawayda killed 15 people, including nine children and three women.
The deceased people are members of the same family— the Ajlah family, said Gaza’s Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Ahmed Abu al-Ghoul, a local who witnessed the assault, told AFP news agency that three rockets hit the building the family was sheltering in while women and children were inside.
“What have they done to deserve this?” he asked.
Most Israelis support quick Gaza deal: Poll
Sixty-three percent of respondents want the Israeli government to close an agreement with Hamas over a truce and the return of captives in Gaza, according to a poll by Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
About a quarter of the respondents said they are undecided on the issue, while 12 percent stressed they oppose a deal, a report by the channel said.
Gaza ceasefire talks, which were continuing in Doha, paused on Friday with negotiators to meet again next week to seek an agreement.
Another round of evacuation order issues for Maghazi areas
Israel has issued yet another round of evacuation orders, this time for neighbourhoods in central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp.
Israel’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee made the announcement in a social media post, listing blocks in Maghazi, as well as several other neighbourhoods in central Gaza, that residents should flee from.
He said Hamas had fired rockets from the areas and Israel’s military would respond “forcefully”.
“For your own safety, move immediately to the humanitarian zone”, Adraee said.
It is the third time Israel has ordered new Gaza neighbourhoods to evacuate in as many days, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Israeli quadcopter killed a six-year-old in Khan Younis: Reports
An Israeli quadcopter has shot a six-year-old boy in the head, killing him as he slept in a tent in Hamad City, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to local media reports.
Israel FM says expects allies to attack Iran if it strikes
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Friday his country expected support from foreign allies "in attacking" Iran if it strikes Israel, comments deemed "inappropriate" by France's visiting top diplomat.
Iran and its regional allies have vowed retaliation for high-profile killings late last month blamed on Israel, including an attack in Tehran that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, which Israel has not claimed responsibility for.
Hezbollah reveals military muscle in clashes with Israel
BEIRUT (Lebanon) (AFP) – Hezbollah has gradually revealed its military capabilities in 10 months of cross-border clashes with Israel, analysts say, including footage of purported underground missile facilities released Friday amid fears of all-out war.
The Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement, armed and financed by Iran, has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
Gaza's overwhelmed undertakers stack 'graves on top of graves'
DEIR EL-BALAH (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Undertakers are working like bricklayers in a Gaza cemetery, piling cinder blocks into tight rectangles, side by side, for freshly dug graves.
More than 10 months into the Gaza war, so many bodies are arriving at the cemetery in Deir el-Balah that the men, working in the hot sun, hardly have space to bury them.
UN urges Gaza truces for child polio vaccination drive
UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) – UN chief Antonio Guterres called Friday for two seven-day breaks in the Gaza war to vaccinate more than 640,000 children against polio, which has been detected in the territory's wastewater.
The UN health and children's agencies said they had detailed plans to reach children across the besieged Palestinian territory and could start this month.
Blinken to head to Israel this weekend to press Gaza truce
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this weekend to push forward a Gaza ceasefire deal as the United States tries to bridge the gaps in talks in the region, the State Department said on Friday (Aug 16).
Blinken will leave Saturday and seek to "conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees through the bridging proposal" presented Friday during talks in Doha by the United States, a State Department statement said.
