Summary
Here is a summary of today’s key events so far:
US secretary of state Antony Blinken is in Egypt, pushing for areas of possible progress on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal in talks planned for later this week. He arrived from Tel Aviv, where he said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a US. “bridging proposal” aimed at narrowing the gaps between the two sides after talks last week paused without a breakthrough. He urged Hamas to also accept the proposal as the basis for more talks.
Hamas condemned claims by US President Joe Biden that it was backing away from a Gaza truce deal, calling his remarks a “green light” for Israel to continue the war. The “misleading claims... do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire” agreement, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
Hamas said it is committed to a ceasefire framework outlined by Biden on May 31 which he said had been proposed by Israel. It described the latest US modifications to that plan as “a coup against” the previous framework, accusing Washington of “acquiescing” to conditions set by Netanyahu.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 12 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school west of Gaza City housing displaced families. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant base embedded inside the school.Hamas denies Israeli allegations that it uses schools and hospitals for military purposes.
Israel has recovered the bodies of six hostages who were seized during Hamas’s 7 October attack and taken to Gaza, its military has announced. An overnight operation in Khan Younis in southern Gaza recovered the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri all civilians abducted from their homes in kibbutzim adjacent to Israel’s barrier wall with the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.
The Hostages Families Forum, an organisation that represents most hostage families, welcomed the news but renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with Hamas. “The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table,” it said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned of the risk of the Gaza war expanding regionally in a way “difficult to imagine” during a meeting Blinken, the Egyptian presidency said. He added:“The ceasefire in Gaza must be the beginning of broader international recognition of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution, as this is the basic guarantor of stability in the region.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Alimohammad Naini said could be a long wait for Iranian retaliation against Israel, according to state media. The Middle East has been bracing for Iran’s avowed retaliation over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it was behind the killing.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza has said there have now been 40, 173 Palestinians killed and 92,857 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October.
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According to state media, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesperson Alimohammad Naini said:“Time is in our favour and the waiting period for this response could be long,”, referring to retaliation against Israel and reiterating that “the enemy” should wait for a calculated and accurate response, Reuters reports.
Iranian leaders are weighing all circumstances and the Islamic Republic’s response might not be a repeat of previous operations, he added, according to Iranian state media.
Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.
The waiting period for Iranian retaliation against Israel could be long, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards spokesperson said on Tuesday, according to state media, Reuters reports.
The Middle East has been bracing for Iran’s avowed retaliation over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied that it had any involvement in the killing.
Civil defence workers and volunteers search the rubble of the Mustafa Hafez school building west of Gaza City for survivors and bodies after at least twelve people were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike on the school housing displaced people, according to Gaza health authorities.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant base embedded inside the school.
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At least 12 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on school, Gaza authorities say
Gaza’s civil defence agency says at least 12 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school west of Gaza City.
“Our crews retrieved 12 martyrs from the Mustafa Hafiz school, which was bombed by the Israeli occupation west of Gaza City,” agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
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After the bodies of six hostages held in Gaza were recovered in an overnight operation by the Israeli military, some of their families have spoken.
Zahiro Shahar Mor, the nephew of hostage Abraham Munder, one of the six whose body was returned, said Israeli authorities had “torpedoed” opportunities to sign a ceasefire deal and bring the hostages back alive.
“My uncle was a war hero who lived his whole life building the country. Hamas took him but the continuous abandonment is on the hands of the Israeli government. No one will want to live in a state that does not take care of its citizens,” he told Reuters.
Defence minister Yoav Gallant said the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Abraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri were recovered by Israeli soldiers from tunnels under Khan Younis after a “complex operation”.
“We will continue working to achieve the goals of this war – returning the hostages to Israel and dismantling Hamas,” he said in a statement.
Like Munder’s nephew, the Hostages Families Forum, an organisation that represents most hostage families, renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with Hamas as a matter of urgency.
“The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table,” it said.
Hamas claims remarks by US president Joe Biden about it backing away from ceasefire deal are 'misleading'
Hamas has condemned claims by US president Joe Biden that it was backing away from a Gaza truce deal, calling his remarks a “green light” for Israel to continue the war, AFP reports.
The “misleading claims … do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire” agreement, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
It called Biden’s remarks – which were made on Tuesday as the US president prepared to leave Chicago after a keynote address to the Democratic National Convention - an “American green light for the Zionist extremist government to commit more crimes against defenceless civilians”.
The statement came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken was in Egypt Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire.
Blinken, who met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, will afterwards head to Qatar, which along with Egypt is brokering negotiations for a truce in the 10-month-old conflict.
Hamas said Biden’s remarks reflect a clear “American bias” towards Israel and Washington’s complicity in the “war of extermination against defenceless civilians in the Gaza Strip”, AFP reports.
The group said it is committed to a ceasefire framework outlined by Biden on 31 May which he said had been proposed by Israel.
It described the latest US modifications to that plan as “a coup against” the previous framework, accusing Washington of “acquiescing” to conditions set by Netanyahu.
“Netanyahu was always the one obstructing an agreement and setting new conditions and demands,” Hamas said, calling on “the US administration to reverse its policy of blind bias towards the Zionist war criminals”.
It called on the “mediators to assume their responsibilities” and oblige Israel to accept the original proposal.
Updated
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned on Tuesday of the risk of the Gaza war expanding regionally in a way “difficult to imagine” during a meeting with U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken, the Egyptian presidency said.
He added:“The ceasefire in Gaza must be the beginning of broader international recognition of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution, as this is the basic guarantor of stability in the region.”
Blinken is in Cairo pushing for areas of possible progress on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal in talks planned for later this week, with major areas of dispute left unresolved, Reuters reports.
He arrived in Egypt from Tel Aviv, where he said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a US “bridging proposal” aimed at narrowing the gaps between the two sides after talks last week paused without a breakthrough. He urged Hamas to also accept the proposal as the basis for more talks.
Egypt has been helping mediate the on-off Gaza talks for months along with the U.S. and Qatar.
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Hamas said in a statement on Tuesday the recent ceasefire agreement presented to the group goes against what was agreed on 2 July, Reuters reports.
Hamas said that US president Biden’s remarks saying the Palestinian Islamist movement was backing away from a Gaza ceasefire agreement with Israel were “misleading” and don’t represent “our stance” on reaching a Gaza ceasefire.
The statement said Hamas showed flexibility blaming Israel prime minister Netanyahu for lack of progress, Reuters reports.
Updated
At least 10 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on school, says Gaza civil defence authorities
At least 10 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced families west of Gaza City, the territory’s civil defence authorities said. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant base embedded inside the school, Reuters news agency reported.
Hamas denies Israeli allegations that it uses schools and hospitals for military purposes.
The AFP news agency reported a civil defence agency spokesperson, Mahmud Bassal, said the bodies of five men and two children were pulled out of the building “after an Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the second floor of the (Mustafa Hafiz School) building housing thousands of displaced people.” He said 15 people were wounded in the strike. AFP was unable to independently verify the death toll at the school.
The Israeli military said in a statement:“Hamas terrorists used the command and control centre to plan and execute attacks against IDF (Israeli army) troops and the State of Israel.” AFP reported it said it carried out a “precise strike on terrorists who were operating” inside the school.
Updated
Israel has recovered the bodies of six hostages who were seized during Hamas’s 7 October attack and taken to Gaza, its military has announced.
An overnight operation in Khan Younis in southern Gaza recovered the bodies of Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri all civilians abducted from their homes in kibbutzim adjacent to Israel’s barrier wall with the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.
The military did not give details about how or when the men died. Over the past few months, the families of all six had already announced the men had been killed after being briefed on IDF intelligence findings.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, praised the recovery effort and said “our hearts ache for the terrible loss”. “The state of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages – the living and the deceased,” he said in a statement.
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Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Democratic national convention on Monday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza has said there have now been 40, 173 Palestinians killed and 92,857 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October.
The Hostages Families Forum, an organisation that represents most hostage families, welcomed the news but renewed its call on the government to conclude a hostage release deal with the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“The immediate return of the remaining 109 hostages can only be achieved through a negotiated deal. The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalise the deal currently on the table,” it said, Reuters reports.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East this week trying to secure a ceasefire and hostage return agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Bodies of six hostages held in Gaza recovered in overnight operation, Israeli military says
The bodies of six hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct 7 attack have been returned from the Gaza Strip, Israeli military has confirmed.
The military said in a statement that its forces recovered the bodies in an overnight operation in southern Gaza.
It identified the hostages as Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell and Chaim Peri, without saying when or how they died, the Associated Press reports.
Five of the hostages were over 50 years old when they were captured, and three had family members who were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the recovery effort and said “our hearts ache for the terrible loss.”
“The State of Israel will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages — both alive and dead,” he said in a statement.
Hamas is still believed to be holding around 110 hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack. Israeli authorities estimate around a third of them are dead.
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The bodies of two hostages were returned from the Gaza Strip, the communal farm they lived on announced Tuesday, The Associated Press reports,
Kibbutz Nirim said that the bodies of Yagev Buchshtav and Nadav Popplewell had been returned to Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight. The kibbutz did not provide additional information and the Israeli military did not immediately confirm the information.
Israel media reported that the two men — along with Avraham Munder, whose death his kibbutz announced Tuesday — were part of a larger military hostage extraction operation overnight.
Popplewell was declared dead by the Israeli military in June. Hamas said in May that Popplewell had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike. Israel’s military announced Buchshtav’s death in July.
The men were taken hostage by militants on Oct. 7, who stormed the border killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. About 110 hostages kidnapped that day remain in the strip. About a third of them are believed to be dead,AP reports.
US secretary of state heads to Egypt and Qatar for more ceasefire talks
It’s just past 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv, welcome to our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis. I’m Caroline Davies and I’ll be with you for the next while.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt and Qatar next, reports Reuters, as he continues ceasefire mediation talks.
Blinken said Monday that Israel had accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, and he called on Hamas to do the same, without saying whether concerns cited by the militant group had been addressed.
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he was seeking to free a “maximum number” of living hostages held in Gaza in the first stage of a proposed ceasefire deal with Hamas.
“I would like to emphasise: The efforts to release a maximum number of living hostages – already in the first stage of the deal”, he said in a video statement released by his office after meeting the US secretary of state.
But first, a summary of the latest developments:
The US secretary of state has said during a visit to Israel that the current round of ceasefire talks is “maybe the last opportunity” to broker a truce and a hostage and prisoner swap in the 10-month-old war in Gaza. Blinken met Israeli officials, including in a three-hour one-on-one with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday during a 24-hour trip to Tel Aviv before he travels on to Egypt.
Netanyahu’s three-hour meeting with Blinken was “positive and conducted in a good spirit”, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office.
The Israeli army said Monday that one of its soldiers was killed in the country’s north, where cross-border fire with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has soared during the Gaza war.
Israel struck Hezbollah weapons depots on Monday deep in Lebanon’s east, a source close to the group told Agence France-Presse. The source close to Iran-backed Hezbollah said “Israeli strikes in the (eastern) Bekaa region targeted Hezbollah weapons depots,” requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said three locations in Lebanon’s east witnessed “enemy Israeli raids this evening”. Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes in east Lebanon “injured eight people, including six Lebanese citizens, a five-year-old Syrian girl, and a fifteen-year-old Syrian girl”.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility on Monday for a bomb blast near a synagogue in Tel Aviv that Israeli police and the Shin Bet intelligence agency described as a terrorist attack.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza has said there have now been 40,139 Palestinians killed and 92,743 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October.
Israel is “flagrantly and regularly” committing war crimes in Gaza, according to a former British diplomat who recently resigned over ministers’ failure to ban arms sales to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Mark Smith, who resigned as a counter-terrorism official at the British embassy in Dublin after raising complaints about the sale of British weapons to Israel, told the BBC on Monday that he believed Israel to be in breach of international law.
Claims of Palestinians being tortured, left untreated in hospital and unable to escape constant bombardment have been submitted to the high court in London by lawyers seeking an order preventing the UK government continuing to grant arms export licences to British companies selling arms to Israel.
Blinken said on Monday that the US and Israel were working towards a plan to vaccinate Palestinians in Gaza for polio after the besieged territory reported its first case of the disease in 25 years. “We’re working with the Israeli government on that, and I believe that we’ll be able to move forward with a plan to do that in the coming weeks,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv, reports AFP.
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