Israel’s war on Gaza live: Israeli attacks kill 86 Palestinians in a day
- People in Gaza waiting for outcome of ceasefire talks amid continued Israeli attacks, our correspondent reports.
- The World Food Programme said an aid convoy was denied entry to north Gaza by Israel’s military. WFP said “to avert famine”, there must be road access to Gaza’s north.
What to expect from Gantz’s meeting with Cameron
Israel’s opposition leader Benny Gantz, on the last leg of an unsanctioned diplomatic tour, is set to meet British Foreign Secretary David Cameron in London today.
Cameron has said the UK’s patience with Israel has “run very thin” over the lack of aid reaching Gaza, and that he will deliver “warnings”.
Speaking in Parliament before Gantz’s visit, Cameron said:
- There is “dreadful suffering” taking place in Gaza, including deaths from starvation and disease.
- Israel, as an occupying power, has responsibilities in ensuring that humanitarian aid gets to Gaza.
- Formal recognition of a Palestinian state must eventually take place as part of a permanent peace settlement.
Cameron’s remarks come as the UK government takes a more assertive posture towards Israel, which it has so far staunchly backed in its war on Gaza. Following the October 7 attack, PM Rishi Sunak, among the first world leaders meeting Netanyahu in a solidarity visit to Israel, said the “UK stands with Israel … always”.
Israeli military claims to kill over 20 Hamas fighters
The Israeli military says its forces killed more than 20 Hamas fighters in the last 24 hours.
The majority of the fighters were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, including 15 from one air strike, the military said.
A fighter jet also killed two fighters in a military compound in the northeast city of Beit Hanoon, it said, adding that among those killed were two individuals who participated in the October 7 attack.
Israel’s latest round of attacks in Khan Younis, Deir el-Balah, and throughout central Gaza have killed numerous civilians, Wafa reported.
Death toll in Gaza rises
At least 30,717 people have been killed and 72,156 wounded by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
In the last 24 hours, Israeli attacks have killed 86 people and wounded 113 in Gaza.
Israel is avoiding ceasefire demands, Hamas says
Hamas says it has shown the flexibility required to reach a truce that stops the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people but Israel is evading demands for a ceasefire.
These demands include a permanent ceasefire, the return of the displaced Palestinians in Gaza to their homes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid.
“We will continue to negotiate through our brotherly mediators to reach an agreement that fulfils the demands and interests of our people,” Hamas said in a statement.
List of key events on day 152 of the war
- Israeli forces killed three civilians and injured many others in an attack on a home in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
- UNRWA said it has distributed flour to some 370,000 families in southern Gaza. On Tuesday, Israeli forces turned back a 14-truck food aid convoy bound for northern Gaza.
- The US has tabled a revised draft of a proposed UNSC resolution that calls for “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages”.
- The US defence secretary met Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz in Washington, DC.
- The US military’s Central Command said it destroyed three Houthi antiship missiles and three unmanned surface vessels in areas controlled by the group.
US, UK leaders growing more ‘assertive’ with Israel over Gaza aid, ceasefire
Shifting public opinion in the US and Europe on Israel’s war on Gaza could push political leaders in the West to lobby more aggressively for lasting ceasefire conditions and more aid to Gaza, according to Luciano Zaccara, an assistant professor of Gulf politics at Qatar University.
Zaccara told Al Jazeera that the large number of US Democratic primary voters who voted “uncommitted” as a protest vote to Biden’s pro-Israel policies, along with George Galloway’s UK parliamentary election victory on a pro-Gaza platform, shows that voters are thinking more and more about their state’s “foreign policy behaviour” when they go to the ballot box.
While there are indications that US and UK leaders are responding to this trend – and being more assertive to Israel about the need for a ceasefire and to supply more aid to Gaza – it remains to be seen what tangible effect this will have as Israeli officials remain “uncommitted”, said Zaccara.
