Israeli Hostilities
Live Reporting
Israeli forces continue to demolish houses
Israeli forces have started demolishing two homes in the village of Kharbatha al-Misbah in the occupied West Bank, reports the Wafa news agency.
The homes belong to two brothers and collectively house 13 people, said Wafa, citing the head of the village’s council.
Home demolitions are common in the West Bank, where Israel rejects nearly all building permits for Palestinians.
In July, Israeli forces demolished 98 structures in the West Bank, including 62 inhabited homes, reports the Ramallah-based Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. So far this year, demolitions have displaced more than 2,000 people in the West Bank, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Forced displacement of people is inhumane, MSF
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) project coordinator Jacob Granger said that Israel’s “continuous forced displacement of people is inhumane.”
He made this statement following the recent evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces, which compelled people to flee Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.
Red Sea vessel crew rescued: Report
The crew of a Greek-flagged ship, which had been drifting in the Red Sea after coming under attack on Wednesday, has been rescued after evacuating the vessel, reports Reuters news agency.
The crew of the ship – the Sounion – was made up of two Russians and 23 Filipinos, said Reuters. They were rescued by the EU’s Red Sea naval mission Aspides it added, quoting an official with the mission.
Yemen’s Houthis have been waging attacks on vessels they claim are linked to Israel passing through the Red Sea since November, acting in what they say is solidarity with Gaza. The campaign has killed at least four sailors and sunk two ships.
The rebel group has not commented on Wednesday’s attacks on the Sounion.
Weapons depot hit near Gaza City school, Israeli military claims
In its latest war update, Israel’s military claims to have killed 50 fighters and destroyed extensive military infrastructure in Gaza in the last day.
One of its targets, the military said, was a weapons depot it claimed was located next to Gaza City’s Salah al-Din School, where we reported a lethal attack yesterday.
It claimed the school building was being used as a “Hamas command and control center”, repeating previous accusations against other targeted schools in the area.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini condemned the attack on the school amid reports children were among its victims.
Strike in West Bank: three Palestinians killed, ministry says
Three Palestinians were killed by an Israeli strike on a house in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.
Biden calls for urgent temporary ceasefire in Gaza war
United States President Joe Biden stressed the need for a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war.
In a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US President emphasised the “urgency” of a temporary ceasefire following reports of an impasse in the ongoing truce talks.
Attack on another school-turned-shelter
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) decried a “horrific attack” on another school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza City. At least four people were killed in the Israeli assault on Salah al-Din School.
Thousands flee Deir el-Balah
Following fresh evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military, thousands of Palestinians fled parts of Deir el-Balah.
The forces advanced deeper into the overcrowded central city.
Israel kills top Palestinian Fatah's commander as Gaza truce talks stumble
SIDON (Lebanon) (AFP) – The Israeli military killed a senior commander from Fatah's armed wing Wednesday in a strike on Lebanon, leading to accusations from the Palestinian movement that Israel is trying to ignite a regional war.
Fatah, which is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said Khalil Maqdah died in an attack near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.
Why is Israel demanding control over 2 Gaza corridors in the cease-fire talks?
NEWYORK (AP) -Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza, which Hamas has long rejected, threatens to unravel cease-fire 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.
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza after Blinken ends visit without breakthrough
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday (Aug 21) after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the region with a truce deal still proving elusive.
As last-ditch diplomatic efforts aimed at halting the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas continued, the Israeli military said jets hit around 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip including tunnels, launch sites and an observation post.
