Israel war on Gaza live: Israeli attack on Bureij kills 9, mostly children

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi has held a joint press conference with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in Amman.

• The ability of UNRWA to carry out its role in Gaza has diminished due to the obstacles imposed by the [Israeli] occupation on the agency.
• UNRWA is a humanitarian agency that cannot be replaced, as no other organisation can do what it is doing now in Gaza.
• UNRWA plays a heroic role in Gaza to help people who are subjected to brutal aggression.
• UNRWA’s survival is essential amid the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.
• Israel’s attempt to assassinate UNRWA politically is part of its attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause.
• Jordan stands with all its capabilities to provide the necessary support to UNRWA.
  

  Ten children lose a limb daily in Gaza

  UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini and the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi have held a joint news conference in Amman.

  Here are some of Lazzarini’s comments:

  • At least 10 children lose a limb every day in Gaza due to the continuing aggression.
  • Nearly 17,000 children are no longer accompanied by their families.
  • What is happening in Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law and must be investigated.
  • Half of the UN agency’s schools in Gaza have been bombed even though Israeli forces have the coordinates that are known by everyone.
  • More than 600,000 students in Gaza live amid the destruction without any education.
  • More than half of UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza have been destroyed.
  • Those responsible for the attacks on the agency in an attempt to dismantle it and end its role in Gaza must be held accountable.
  • There will be an event in September to raise resources for the agency after a number of donors halted funding.
    

    If you’re just joining us

    Here is a quick recap of what’s happened today:

    • An Israeli attack on Bureij refugee camp has killed at least nine people, including five children.
    • Gaza’s government says Israel has been blocking aid from entering the besieged enclave for 64 days.
    • The family of Israeli captive Daniella Gilboa allowed the publication of a video that purports to show her in Gaza, urging the government to do more for her release.
    • The Palestine Red Crescent Society says Israel’s latest evacuation orders in Gaza City have taken all of the medical facilities affiliated with the medical charity out of service.
    • The Israeli army has arrested at least 16 people across the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ rights groups.
    • Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “deliberately complicating” Gaza ceasefire talks “to wink at his political base”.
    • Israel faces the possibility of ammunition shortages after arms suppliers stopped responding to their Israeli counterparts and others have refused to supply raw materials used to make ammunition, according to the Israeli newspaper Calcalist.
      

      What to know about Israel’s attack on Bureij

      We’ve been reporting on an Israeli bombing of the central Gaza refugee camp in the last hours.

      Here are a few key facts on this attack:

      • At least nine people are dead, our correspondent reports, including five children.
      • Palestine’s Wafa news agency, quoting residents, reports that the attack targeted a gathering of civilians near the Abu Rasas roundabout in the camp.
      • Exclusive video obtained by Al Jazeera shows the arrival of the dead and injured children at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah.
      • Witnesses say that the children were playing in the streets of the camp when the bombing struck.
        

        Israeli army says it kills 150 fighters since start of Shujayea operation

        The Israeli army says it has killed 150 Palestinian fighters since launching a military operation in Gaza City’s Shujayea district.

        It also said its forces have engaged in ground battles with fighters and destroyed infrastructure, including tunnels.

        Israeli tanks and ground forces have deepened their incursions into some Gaza City districts such as Shujayea, Sabra and Tal al-Hawa since late June, displacing more than 80,000 people, according to UN estimates.

        Residents have reported some of the fiercest fighting in the city since the start of the war.

        Israeli artillery shelling kills at least one in Sabra, Gaza City

        Israeli artillery shelling has killed at least one person and wounded a number of others near the Maghribi junction in the Sabra neighbourhood, in southern Gaza City, an Al Jazeera correspondent reports.

        A short while ago, an Israeli attack on Bureij refugee camp killed at least nine people, including five children.

        Earlier, an Israeli bombardment killed three civilians in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, in the west of Rafah in south Gaza.

        Israeli Apache helicopters have also opened fire on the western areas of Rafah, according to Wafa news agency.

        Temporary ceasefire could open space for permanent one

        Hassan Barari, a professor of international affairs at Qatar University, says that a temporary ceasefire would be important as it would eventually pave the way for a permanent one.

        Barari said the first phase of the ceasefire proposal – six weeks without any fighting – is crucial for the people of Gaza to get some sense of security after nine months of relentless attacks, and to receive desperately needed humanitarian aid.

        “It could create an interest for both sides to negotiate an end to the war because this is not good for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.

        This is why Hamas has shown a degree of flexibility, Barari added, referring to a report saying that the group had dropped a key demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before it would sign an agreement.

        “Hamas has a responsibility to stop the war now and to do that it needs some concessions and that’s why they came up with a flexible position … because they want to put an end to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians,” he said.

        Otherwise, the Israeli government would have additional ammunition to accuse the armed group of not being interested in a peace deal, Barari added.

        Negotiations over a ceasefire agreement regained momentum last week after months of deadlock.