Live blog: Hundreds of injured died due to Rafah crossing blockade

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

1756 GMT — At least 292 Palestinians lost their lives due to Israel's closure of the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, local authorities have said.

"Among the victims were injured people who were supposed to receive treatment in hospitals outside Gaza, but died as they waited for the opening of the Rafah crossing," the media office in Gaza said.

The media office estimates that more than 3,500 patients and injured people have been denied exit via the crossing since Israel's capture of the terminal last May.

Around 2,500 patients have also applied to leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing for medical attention abroad.

"Israel's closure of the crossing prevents these people from travelling for treatment, which leaves them at risk of death," the media office warned.

More updates 👇

1852 GMT — US military declares end of troubled Gaza aid pier mission

The US military's problem-plagued mission to deliver aid to Gaza via a temporary pier has ended, a senior American officer has said.

"The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete, so there's no more need to use the pier," Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told journalists.

1817 GMT — Families of Israeli hostages urge Netanyahu to arrange swap deal

Families of Israeli hostages have demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu evening to arrange a deal to bring back their relatives before his upcoming trip to Washington.

This came in a protest organised by the families in Tel Aviv during which nearly 300 people participated and marched towards the headquarters of the Defense Ministry, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

"No travel without a deal,” reads a banner waved by protesters as they carried photos of the hostages, referring to Netanyahu's planned visit to the United States.

"This is the moment we tell Netanyahu; you won't travel until we bring everyone back – now," they chanted.

1806 GMT — Israeli Knesset rejects bill for official inquiry into Oct. 7

The Knesset (Israel's parliament) has voted evening against a bill to establish an official commission to investigate the Oct. 7.

The bill was rejected by a narrow margin, with 53 members voting against it and 51 in favour.

The proposal was introduced by Knesset member Orit Farkash-Hacohen from the National Camp Party, led by former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

“Those who can't take responsibility, learn from mistakes, and draw lessons do not deserve to be leaders," Farkash-Hacohen said before the vote.

"The public deserves answers, as do the bereaved families, soldiers, and the families of the kidnapped," she added.

1559 GMT — Resolutions on Gaza 'have remained ink on paper': Russia to UN

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has criticised the UN Security Council and said its resolutions on Gaza have failed to stop the bloodshed in occupied Palestinian territories.

Lavrov said at a Security Council meeting on the Middle East, chaired by Russia, that it is the fourth time in 10 months that the Council has met at the ministerial level.

"Four resolutions have been adopted. However, the ongoing bloodshed in the occupied Palestinian territories only reaffirms that all of these decisions have remained ink on paper," said the Russian diplomat.

Lavrov noted that "a frank and honest conversation is needed" to immediately stop the bloodshed, and the suffering of civilians and move toward a long-term settlement.

"The large-scale military operation which Israel has conducted, together with its American ally, has resulted in horrifying statistics in terms of casualties and destruction in 300 days in 10 months," said the foreign minister.

1547 GMT — Israeli drone crashes in occupied West Bank: military

An Israeli drone has crashed in the occupied West Bank, according to the military.

A military statement cited a "technical malfunction" for the crash that occurred in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarem.

The army said there was no concern about information leakage, saying an investigation has been launched into the incident.

1545 GMT — Israel’s Eilat Port in 'near-total' shutdown amid Houthi attacks: Report

The Port of Eilat in southern Israel has been in "near-total" shutdown since Yemen's Houthi group (Ansar Allah) started attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea, according to Israeli media.

The crisis has prompted the port owner to consider laying off half of the workforce at the port if financial assistance from the government is not received, the Israeli newspaper Calcalist reported.

"The Port of Eilat has been almost entirely closed for eight months since the Houthis started attacking ships passing through the Red Sea," the newspaper said.

1512 GMT — Israel seizing occupied West Bank land over European nations' recognition of Palestine: EU's Borrell

Israel continues to seize land in the occupied West Bank in response to some European countries' decisions to recognise the state of Palestine, the EU's foreign policy chief has said.

"Inside EU, we have different views from member states (on recognition of Palestinian statehood). This is a political decision. They will push for the two-state solution. This is a confirmation of our will to get this goal, so let's do it now," Josep Borrell told Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya English in an exclusive interview.

"Some countries believe it is not the moment to recognise Palestine as a state. It can maybe be even counterproductive. It can trigger reaction from the Israeli government, as it happened," Borrell added.

1446 GMT — Situation in Gaza is 'a moral stain on us all': Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reiterated his demand for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave is "a moral stain on us all."

Guterres said in a statement read by his chief of staff, Courtenay Rattray, that there is a need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages. He noted that talks with Egypt, Qatar and the US to reach a deal to release the hostages and get a ceasefire are continuing with some reported progress.

"The parties must reach such a deal now. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a moral stain on us all," said the UN chief. He warned that the humanitarian support system in Gaza is close to collapse and there is a complete breakdown of public order.

1349 GMT — Health Ministry in Gaza issues desperate appeal to save health care system

Health Ministry in Gaza has issued a desperate appeal for providing electric generators to help salvage the ailing health care system in the besieged enclave.

In a statement, the ministry emphasised the critical need to purchase essential generators to ensure hospitals can continue functioning.

“For approximately nine months, the health care facilities have heavily relied on diesel-powered generators, which operate around the clock,” the statement said.

“However, many of these generators have suffered significant technical failures, making repairs difficult. Some have even been directly targeted and destroyed by the aggressive Israeli forces,” it added.

1328 GMT — Israeli delegation arrives in Cairo to continue ceasefire talks

An Israeli delegation arrived in Egypt to continue ceasefire talks as Israel and Hamas consider the latest proposal, three Egyptian airport officials have said.

The Israeli delegation includes six officials, the airport officials said without disclosing identities.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to discuss the arrival with the media.

1321 GMT — Israeli strike kills 7, including 3 children, in southern Gaza

Seven people, including three children, were killed and many others injured in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza, the Health Ministry has said.

The attack targeted a house in Abasan al Kabira area in Khan Younis, the ministry said in a statement.

1219 GMT — Illegal Israeli settlers restrict Palestinian access to water

In the occupied West Bank city of Jericho, illegal Israeli settlers have increasingly obstructed around 120 Palestinian families from accessing the El-Auja water source, impacting their ability to water livestock and maintain their agricultural practices.

Approximately three months ago, one of the illegal Israeli settlers who usurped Palestinian land established an "illegal settlement" near the Al-Auja water source.

Palestinians in the area reported that an Israeli settler who owns a flock of sheep has taken over the region and is obstructing access to irrigation water to displace the local Palestinians.

1211 GMT — Netanyahu puts difficulties to Israel's prisoner swap deal with Hamas: Defence minister

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting difficulties in efforts aimed at reaching a prisoner swap agreement with Hamas.

"If a deal is not signed in the next two weeks, the fate of the hostages is sealed," Gallant said during a close meeting cited by Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

He said conditions for a deal with Hamas have matured, but Netanyahu is putting difficulties in order not to lose his coalition members Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

1201 GMT — Palestine condemns Israel's land seizure in occupied West Bank

Palestine has condemned Israel's confiscation of 441 dunams (44.1 hectares) of Palestinian land west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

"We condemn the rapidly accelerating racist colonial policies of Israel to seize thousands of dunams of Palestinian land," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The Israeli government continues its blatant defiance of relevant UN resolutions, aiming to bring about profound changes to the historical, political, legal, and demographic reality of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and undermining the possibility of implementing the two-state solution."

The ministry called for imposing "deterrent international sanctions" on Israel and forcing Tel Aviv "to halt settlement activities, dismantle settler militias, and disarm them."

1114 GMT — Death toll in Gaza from Israel's brutal war nears 38,800

The Israeli army killed 81 more Palestinians in attacks in Gaza, taking the overall death toll to 38,794 since last Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave has said.

A ministry statement added that some 89,364 other people have been injured in the assault.

"Israeli forces killed 81 people and injured 198 others in two ‘massacres’ against families in the last 24 hours," the ministry said. "Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," it added.

1052 GMT — Hezbollah chief denies 'finalised agreement' for Lebanon-Israel border

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan has denied any "finalised agreement" regarding the situation along Lebanon's border with Israel.

"Our front will not stop as long as the (Israeli) aggression against Gaza continues and the threat of war will not frighten us," Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

He said his group may soon target towns in Israel that have not so far been subjected to its rocket attacks if the Israeli army "continues to strike civilians."

"If the (Israeli) aggression against Gaza stops, the party that will negotiate on behalf of Lebanon is the Lebanese state," Nasrallah said.

0933 GMT — Israel detains more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army detained 15 more Palestinians, including three women and a boy, during incursions across the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners' rights groups.

Israeli troops entered the cities of Jenin, Salfit, Jericho, Bethlehem and Hebron, and took 15 Palestinians into custody, including a boy, three women and former detainees in Israeli jails, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

During their incursions, Israeli forces assaulted and threatened detainees and their families, as well as vandalised their homes, the statement added.

The new arrests bring the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since October of last year to 9,700, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

0908 GMT — Hezbollah vows to hit new Israeli sites over civilian deaths

Hezbollah will hit new targets in Israel if it keeps killing civilians in Lebanon, the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said, noting a spike in the number of non-combatants killed in Lebanon in recent days.

Five civilians, all Syrians and including three children, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday and at least three Lebanese civilians were killed the day before, according to state media and security sources.

"Continuing to target civilians will push the Resistance to launch missiles at settlements that were not previously targeted," Nasrallah said, in comments made during a televised address to mark the day of Ashoura.

0713 GMT — Ten Palestinians killed in Israeli overnight air strikes in central Gaza

The Israeli army killed at least 10 more Palestinians in raids on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza amid ongoing shelling across the tiny enclave.

Speaking to Anadolu news agency, Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said the rescue teams recovered seven bodies and a number of injured people from the rubble of a destroyed home of the Diab family in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

It added that another Palestinian was killed as a result of an Israeli air strike on a home of the Eisawi family in the Nuseirat camp.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that an Israeli airstrike on the Abdullah Azzam Mosque in the Nuseirat refugee camp left two people killed and 15 others injured.

0627 GMT — Israeli army seizes more Palestinian land in central occupied West Bank

The Israeli army expropriated more Palestinian lands in western Ramallah, in the central occupied West Bank, near existing illegal Jewish settlements, a Palestinian group said.

The Israeli army seized 441 dunums (441,000 square metres) of lands from Palestinian citizens in the villages of Shabtin, Deir Ammar and Deir Qaddis in western Ramallah, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said in a statement.

It added that the Israeli army aims to seize all lands surrounding the Israeli settlements of Nili and Naale which are built on Palestinian land.

0140 GMT — Lebanon media says 3 children among 5 dead in Israeli strikes

Lebanese official media said separate Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed five people including three Syrian children, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire at Israel in retaliation.

"Three Syrian children" were killed "in an enemy raid that targeted farmland in the village of Umm Toot", the National News Agency (NNA) said.

It also said an "enemy" drone strike had targeted a motorcycle on the Kfar Tebnit road elsewhere in south Lebanon, killing two Syrians.

A Lebanese security source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told AFP news agency the two Syrians were "civilians" who worked nearby and had been swimming in the area.

0030 GMT — Israel kills 48 Palestinians in Gaza in less than an hour

Three Israeli air strikes in less than one hour killed 48 Palestinians in Gaza, according to civil defence agency.

Israel said it carried out two of the strikes that the civil defence agency said also left dozens more wounded.

According to an updated toll, 25 people died at the UN-run Al Razi School in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, an agency director, Mohammed al Mughair told AFP news agency.

At least 18 people were killed and 25 wounded at Al Mawasi near the southern city of Khan Younis. Five people were killed in a strike on people stood near a roundabout at Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, according to the official.

2324 GMT — Israeli army chief of staff demands apology from Netanyahu

Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has demanded that hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologise for recent comments he made in which he criticised the military for not putting enough pressure on resistance group Hamas to achieve progress in hostage talks, local reports said.

Israel's Channel 12 said that during a press conference on Saturday, Netanyahu said that "for months, there was no progress because the military pressure was not strong enough, and I thought that both for the sake of the hostage deal and for the sake of the victory over Hamas, we must enter Rafah."

During a meeting on Sunday that was also attended by the heads of Israel's two main spy agencies, the Shin Bet and Mossad, Halevi asked Netanyahu to apologise, Channel 12 reported.

In the meeting, Halevi told Netanyahu: "These comments are serious. I demand the Prime Minister issue an apology."

However, according to the channel, Netanyahu has not apologised.

2238 GMT — Egypt, France discuss efforts to prevent escalation in Middle East

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have agreed that international efforts must intensify to prevent the Middle East region from entering a new cycle of conflict.

In a phone call, the two leaders expressed their commitment to enhancing bilateral cooperation across various domains and exchanged views on regional and international issues, with a particular focus on "developments in the Gaza Strip," the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement.

President Sisi highlighted "Egypt's ongoing mediation efforts to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the exchange of hostages between Israel and Hamas."

He also "emphasised the urgent need for sufficient humanitarian aid to alleviate the harsh conditions faced by Gaza's residents due to Israeli military" aggression.

2224 GMT — Israel kills several Palestinians in air strikes in Gaza

Israel has killed several Palestinians and wounded others in air strikes on different parts of besieged Gaza, which destroyed three homes.

Artillery fire also targeted areas in central and northern governorates.

Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the Al-Manara neighbourhood of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with no immediate reports of injuries, according to Anadolu news agency.

Earlier, an Israeli strike hit a residential apartment in the Tel al Hawa neighbourhood southwest of Gaza City.

Israeli fighter jets also struck a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, killing five Palestinians, according to medical sources cited by Anadolu news agency.

In the Tel al Sultan neighbourhood west of Rafah city in southern Gaza, field sources reported several fatalities due to an Israeli strike.

Meanwhile, Israeli artillery continued to shell targets across Gaza, hitting the area west of the Nuseirat camp and the Kleibo area east of Sheikh Zayed Towers.

2100 GMT — Turkish foreign minister, Hamas chief discuss Gaza humanitarian crisis, ceasefire talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held a phone call with Hamas' political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in besieged Gaza and the latest in ceasefire negotiations, according to diplomatic sources.

During the conversation, Fidan addressed the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and concerning developments resulting from increasing hunger and diseases in northern Gaza.

Additionally, Fidan and Haniyeh discussed the latest developments in ceasefire negotiations with Israel.

For our live updates from Tuesday, July 16, 2024, click here.