Israel expands attacks as Blinken stresses deal
- Israel’s military says its soldiers are operating in central Deir el-Balah, which has so far largely been spared from ground fighting, further forcing Palestinians into just 11 percent of the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli forces wound a Palestinian journalist covering the expanding ground invasion of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, after shooting her in the back.
Israeli soldier killed in drone attack in northern Israel: Army
Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria has been killed in the strike carried out in the Baram area in the morning, the Israeli military says in a statement.
Amaria, 45, was a part of the 300th “Baram” Regional Brigade, the statement said, adding that one other soldier was seriously injured in the attack and is being treated.
Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks since the morning, including a drone attack, targeting Israel.
‘Status quo is shameful’: Hundreds of humanitarian organisations call for protections
As Israel’s war on Gaza and other conflicts continue to claim lives, 413 humanitarian organisations have written to the UN General Assembly to call for protecting civilians and aid workers.
“The brutal hostilities we are seeing in multiple conflicts around the world have exposed a terrible truth: We are living in an era of impunity,” they write in the letter published by Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the highest-level humanitarian coordination platform of the UN System.
“This status quo is shameful and cannot continue,” they wrote, adding that fatalities among humanitarian workers doubled in 2023 compared with the previous year, and that the 2024 fatalities are already “staggering”.
Hezbollah claims missile attack on Israeli military site
The Lebanese group has claimed to have hit Israel’s Bayyad Blida military site near the Lebanon-Israel border with a Burkan missile.
The group said in a statement on Telegram that the attack came at 1:35pm (10:35 GMT), without elaborating on the results.
We have reported earlier that Hezbollah announced the death of two of its members – Abbas Melhem and Muhammad Qaddouh – in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.
Israeli jets again break sound barrier over Beirut
Israeli warplanes have again flown low over the Lebanese capital, breaking the sound barrier after several days of relative calm.
To find out more about how the Israeli military has for long used the tactic in its psychological warfare, read this.
‘Disrespect for Palestinian life disconcerting’: UN special rapporteur
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, has criticised a recent White House statement which focused on Israel’s security as a reason to end the war on Gaza.
“40,000 ascertained casualties, yet the focus remains on Israel’s security, whatever that implies,” she wrote, demanding an immediate ceasefire.
“The disrespect for Palestinian life is disconcerting.”
Israel claims strikes on southern Lebanon
Israeli jets have hit Hezbollah targets in the areas of Aita al-Shaab and Hanine, according to a military statement.
It said aircraft struck fighters and a military building as well as a rocket launcher in separate attacks, the statement added.
Earlier, the Lebanese group announced the death of two members in two separate attacks.
Netanyahu says meeting with Blinken was ‘positive’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his three-hour meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was “positive and conducted in a good spirit”, according to a statement from his office.
“The prime minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the latest American proposal regarding the release of our hostages – taking into account Israel’s security needs, which he insists on firmly,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Over a dozen Palestinians killed in Gaza since morning
Medical sources have told Al Jazeera that at least 13 Palestinians have been killed since this morning as a result of the continued Israeli bombing of the central and southern Gaza Strip.
Army ready to set up field hospitals in Gaza, says Algerian president
Abdelmadjid Tebboune says the country’s soldiers are ready to establish three field hospitals in the Gaza Strip within a few weeks if the Israeli-occupied Rafah border crossing with Egypt is reopened.
Algeria is prepared to send “hundreds of doctors” to Gaza as well and work to “help rebuild what the occupation destroyed”, he said during a rally speech in the northeastern city of Constantine.
The 78-year-old, who is running for re-election, pledged that “we will never abandon Palestine, especially Gaza”.
This comes a day after the North African country said it will send fuel to Lebanon amid a nationwide blackout caused by fuel shortages amid rising concerns of a looming war with Israel.
Hezbollah-Israel conflict is gradually expanding
What we’re seeing is that Israel is carrying out attacks deeper inside Lebanon, causing more civilian casualties.
In the past, it used to make sure that these were surgical strikes, and that civilians were not hurt. But in recent days, we’ve seen some targeted killings in busy intersections. These attacks have caused further displacement in the south [of Lebanon].
We’re talking to up to 7,000 people leaving their homes. That’s an 8 percent increase in the last 10 days alone.
Now Hezbollah, in turn, is trying to do the same. It has expanded its attacks in northern Israel, striking deeper up to 18km [11.2 miles], hitting military targets but also hitting new towns that have not been evacuated.
So, they are still not deliberately targeting civilians but are trying to create a bigger buffer zone along the border with Israel, putting more military pressure, trying to cause further displacement, because all this adds pressure on the Israeli government.
Casualties reported after Israeli attacks on Nuseirat and Deir el-Balah
At least three Palestinians have been “killed and wounded” in Israeli shelling of southern Nuseirat and another three casualties are reported after an Israeli air attack on a house south of Deir el-Balah, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
The casualties were taken from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza to al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
Separately, the Palestinian Information Center reported an unidentified number of deaths and injuries in an Israeli air attack on the Abu Awda family home in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of southern Gaza’s Khan Younis city.
Israeli forces kill Palestinian journalist in Khan Younis
Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Muharab, 26, was killed last night by Israeli forces north of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Accompanied by a group of colleagues, he was on his way to Hamad City – where the Israeli military has launched a second ground invasion since the start of the war – when they were targeted by tanks, according to the Wafa news agency.
Ambulance crews found Muharab’s body this morning.
He had worked with multiple outlets as a freelance journalist and was a member of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
Muharab is the 169th journalist to be killed in Gaza by the Israeli military.
Hezbollah announces killing of 2 members
The Lebanese group says on Telegram that they were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” an expression it uses for deaths in Israeli attacks.
In the statement, they are named as Abbas Melhem from Majdal Selem and Muhammad Qaddouh from Ghandouriyeh – two villages in southern Lebanon.
