Live blog: US to unveil new Gaza hostage swap proposal — report

Saturday, September 7, 2024

2237 GMT — Israeli and US officials have said that Washington is "not optimistic" about reaching a hostage swap deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza, but will soon present a new proposal.

Washington is drafting a new proposal, which will be presented to Tel Aviv and mediators, although the US is not optimistic about finalising a deal soon, state-run broadcasting authority KAN reported, citing unnamed Israeli and US officials.

The officials said the US has labelled the plan that is being drafted as a “last chance proposal.”

They indicated that it “might be presented tomorrow (Sunday) or in the next few days.”

According to what the officials told KAN, the "US settlement proposal includes all the contentious points, foremost among them the Philadelphi Corridor between the Gaza Strip and Egypt."

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2302 GMT — Hezbollah says has fired rockets at northern Israeli town

Hezbollah said it launched a salvo of rockets at a north Israel town early Sunday in retaliation for an attack that Lebanon's health ministry said had killed three civil defence workers in south Lebanon.

"In response to the enemy attacks... and particularly the attack that killed emergency workers in south Lebanon's Froun on Saturday", Hezbollah "bombed... Kiryat Shmona with a volley of Falaq rockets", said in a statement.

2217 GMT — Mikati calls urgent meeting after Israeli strike on Lebanon's Civil Defense

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has demanded an urgent meeting next week with Western ambassadors and representatives of international organisations in Lebanon, after an Israeli attack on civil defence personnel.

Three paramedics were killed and two others were injured in the strike earlier that targeted a civil defence fire truck in southern Lebanon.

Mikati condemned "the new Israeli aggression that targeted Civil Defense personnel while they were performing their duty to extinguish fires caused by the enemy’s airstrikes on the southern town of Froun."

“This new aggression against Lebanon constitutes a blatant violation of international laws and represents a flagrant attack on humanitarian values,” he said in a statement.

2200 GMT — Lebanon’s Amal Movement group says 2 members killed fighting Israel

Lebanon’s Amal Movement has said that two members were killed fighting against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

The Hezbollah-allied group said the pair was killed “while fulfilling their national duty to defend Lebanon and the south," without providing details.

The new fatalities brought to 20 the number of Amal Movement members killed in clashes with Israeli forces since October.

2152 GMT — Protesters rally in Geneva in support of Palestine

A large demonstration in support of Palestine has taken place in Geneva as Israeli attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank intensified.

Protesters gathered at a square near the Geneva Post Office before marching to the historic Palais Wilson, which houses the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags expressed outrage about Israel’s assaults in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and highlighted civilian and child casualties from the violence.

Chanting slogans against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden countries supporting the onslaught, protesters demanded an immediate ceasefire and an end to the "genocide" in Gaza.

1647 GMT — Lebanon says Israeli attack kills 3 emergency workers

Lebanon's health ministry said three emergency personnel were killed and two others wounded in an Israeli attack on a civil defence team putting out fires in south Lebanon.

"Israeli enemy targeting of a Lebanese civil defence team that was putting out fires sparked by the recent Israeli strikes in the village of Froun led to the martyrdom of three emergency responders," the health ministry said in a statement.

Two others were wounded, one of them critically, the statement said, adding, however, that the toll was provisional.

1522 GMT — Illegal Israeli settlers demolish 47 structures in occupied West Bank over a week

Illegal Israeli settlers demolished 47 agricultural structures and homes last week in the Taybe area in the west of Hebron in the southern West Bank, Palestinians have reported.

The destruction was discovered by the Palestinians upon their return to their properties after being barred from accessing them by Israeli forces since early September following a shooting incident that killed three police officers near the Turmus Ayya checkpoint.

1324 GMT — Israeli strikes kill more civilians as UN pursues vaccinations

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 61 people in the space of 48 hours, local medics said.

An Israeli air strike on the Halima al-Sadiyya school compound serving as a shelter for displaced people in the Jabalia urban refugee camp killed at least eight people and wounded 15 others, medics said.

Five more people were killed in a strike on a house in Gaza City.

Later on Saturday, an Israeli strike killed four people and wounded 25 others at Amr Ibn Ala'as school, which also houses displaced families in the Sheikh Radwan suburb of Gaza City, Palestinian medics said.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli military strikes had killed so far 28 people across Gaza on Saturday.

On the other hand, the United Nations, in collaboration with local health authorities, has pursued a campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza after its first polio case in around 25 years.

UN officials said they were making progress, having reached over half of the children needing the drops in the first two stages in the southern and central Gaza

1207 GMT — Israel says 30 rockets fired from Lebanon hit Upper Galilee

Israel said 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon, landing in open areas in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel.

In a statement, the Israeli forces said: “About 30 shells were fired from Lebanon and fell in the Metat area in the Upper Galilee without causing injuries."

“Following airstrikes on multiple rocket-launching platforms last night (Friday), Israeli fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah rocket-launch platform in the Yater area (Bint Jbeil District in southern Lebanon) during the night,” the army added.

Israeli private Channel 12 said the rockets fired from Lebanon targeted the Mount Meron illegal settlement in northern Israel.

1048 GMT — Israeli opposition leader urges government to end Gaza war

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for a deal with Hamas to bring back Israeli captives from Gaza and end the ongoing conflict.

"Strike a deal, end the war, fix the country," Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, said in a brief post on X.

0946 GMT — PLO says Israel’s killing of Turkish-American activist attempt to intimidate supporters

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned Israel’s killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi as an attempt to intimidate and suppress supporters of Palestinian causes.

In a statement, the PLO’s Department of Expatriates said the killing of Eygi highlights the brutality and violence of the Israeli occupation against innocent civilians and those who oppose its actions.

It emphasized that the killing was aimed at intimidating and suppressing solidarity with Palestine.

The PLO held Tel Aviv fully responsible for Eygi’s murder and called for substantial international pressure on Israel to halt its violations of international laws and agreements.

0915 GMT — Death toll in Gaza from Israeli brutal war nears grim 41,000

At least 40,939 Palestinians have been killed and 94,616 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in the enclave has said.

0904 GMT — The heads of the CIA and MI6 issue a joint call for a ceasefire in Gaza

The heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies have said they are “working ceaselessly” for a ceasefire in Gaza, using a rare joint public statement to press for peace.

CIA Director William Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation.”

0849 GMT — Autopsy shows Turkish-American activist was killed by sniper's bullet: Nablus governor

An autopsy report of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a Turkish-American activist, has confirmed she was killed by an Israeli sniper’s bullet to the head, Nablus governor Ghassan Daghlas has said.

0832 GMT — Child among several Palestinians killed in Israeli shelling in Gaza

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed and 30 others, including children, were injured as Israeli forces targeted homes and civilians in central and northern Gaza, sources and witnesses said.

Medical sources at the al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza said that five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a civilian gathering in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.

Mahmoud Bassal, the spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, said six Palestinians, including a child and a woman, were killed in strikes on Gaza City and the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Separately, witnesses said Israeli artillery targeted populated areas in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, injuring dozens of civilians including children.

At least 30 people were injured in the attack, according to medical sources.

0813 GMT — Israel says 30 rockets fired from Lebanon hit Upper Galilee

Israel has said 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon, landing in open areas in the Upper Galilee, northern Israel.

In a statement, the Israeli army said “about 30 shells were fired from Lebanon and fell in the Metat area in the Upper Galilee without causing injuries."

“Following airstrikes on multiple rocket-launching platforms last night (Friday), Isra eli fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah rocket-launch platform in the Yater area (Bint Jbeil District in southern Lebanon) during the night,” the army added.

Israeli private Channel 12 said the rockets fired from Lebanon targeted the Mount Meron illegal settlement in northern Israel.

0345 GMT — New footage shows mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prison

Haaretz has released footage that showed security guards mistreating Palestinian prisoners at the Megiddo Prison in northern Israel.

The video by the Israeli newspaper depicts a guard running a police dog on the hands of prisoners, some of whom are handcuffed and lying face down.

Palestinian inmates said guards beat them in areas without camera coverage, according to the newspaper.​​​​​​​

0154 GMT — Israel bombs school and homes in Gaza, killing 13 Palestinians

Israel has killed at least 13 Palestinians and wounded another 15 in strikes on a school sheltering refugees and a residential building in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA reported.

At least eight of the dead were in refugee tents at Halima al-Sa'diyya School in Jabalia in northern Gaza, WAFA said.

As usual, the Israeli military called the strikes "precise".

In a statement, it said it had "conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command and control centre... embedded inside a compound that previously served as the 'Halima al-Sa'diyya' School in northern Gaza."

In a separate incident, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

2127 GMT — Pro-Palestine activists protest opening night of Toronto Film Festival

A small group of pro-Palestine activists have staged a stir at the opening night of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), targeting the festival’s sponsor, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

During the screening of David Gordon Green's comedy "Nutcrackers" at the Princess of Wales Theatre late on Thursday, four demonstrators marched down the aisle, brandishing signs and shouting: "Stop the genocide!" and "Cut ties with RBC."

Videos of the demonstration were shared by attendees on social media.

The protest was met with boos and shouts from the audience, which was eager for the event to proceed. Security escorted the protesters out of the venue shortly after.

The Toronto International Film Festival is known as the biggest public film festival in the world, running from September 5-15.

2221 GMT — Walz defends Israel but also says Palestinians have 'every right to life'

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz has said that those protesting American support for Israel's war on Gaza are doing so for "all the right reasons," as the Democratic ticket seeks to balance its support of Israel with concern for the humanitarian plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.

Walz' comments came in an interview with a local Michigan public radio station — a state with a large Muslim American population that is also a potentially pivotal swing state in this November's election.

His comments appeared to mark tonal shift, though not a policy one, from the unbridled support for Israel that Vice President Kamala Harris espoused at the Democratic National Convention last month.

Walz said Israel certainly has the right to defend itself, but he also said that, "we can't allow what's happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves."

For our live updates from Friday, September 6, 2024, click here.