Live Updates: Gaza death toll from Israeli assaults reaches 39,175 — ministry

Thursday, July 25, 2024

10:52 GMT — At least 30 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, pushing up the overall death toll to 39,175 since last Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 90,403 others have been injured in the assault.

"Israeli forces killed 30 people and injured 146 others in three ‘massacres’ against families in the last 24 hours," the ministry said. "Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," it added.

12:13 GMT — Italian PM meets Israeli president, stresses need for immediate truce

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Rome, underlining the importance of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the release of all hostages.

Meloni also renewed Italy’s commitment to de-escalation in the region, recalling the role played by the Italian contingent at the border with Lebanon through the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and reiterating “the strong concern for the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.”

Meloni also assured that Italy will continue to work toward a "two-state solution" in the Middle East, supporting the US mediation and providing assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, including through the Food for Gaza initiative.

12:01 GMT — Families of Israeli hostages slam Netanyahu

Families of Israeli captives in Gaza requested an urgent meeting with Israel’s negotiating team following the delay of its scheduled visit to Qatar for prisoner swap talks with Hamas.

The team was scheduled to travel to the Qatari capital, Doha, but the visit was postponed until next week.

According to Israeli media, the visit was postponed until after a scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden in Washington.

"A crisis of trust has emerged that requires clarification," the Hostage Family Forum said on X. "For two weeks, the prime minister has refrained from responding to mediators' inquiries regarding the implementation of a (prisoner swap) deal."

11:56 GMT — US allowing Netanyahu’s propaganda at Congress 'shameful': Turkish official

Turkish communications director said that it is "shameful" that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is allowed to make propaganda from the US Congress.

"Allowing Netanyahu to spread his propaganda on the floor of the US Congress and letting him call peaceful American protestors all sorts of names is simply shameful," Fahrettin Altun said on X.

“By hosting a politician responsible for committing war crimes, Washington sends the world a message that it cares little to nothing about the lives of innocent civilians,” he added.

Noting that a minority of US politicians protested or confronted Netanyahu’s “despicable speech,” he said his address “was not only full of blatant lies but also hatred for Palestinians.”

Altun added that some American politicians’ complicity in the crimes of the Israeli government for political expediency will have consequences for the US credibility around the world.

11:36 GMT — At least 91 Palestinian journalists detained by Israel: NGO

At least 91 journalists have been detained by the Israeli army since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza last Oct. 7, according to a local non-governmental organisation.

Fifty-three journalists remain in detention, including six women journalists, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.

The detained journalists include 16 from Gaza and 17 held without trial or charge under Israel’s policy of administrative detention, it added.

According to the NGO, at least 9,800 Palestinians have been rounded up by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023.

08:00 GMT — Football fans open Palestinian flag to protest Israel at Paris 2024 Olympics

Football fans unfurled Palestinian flags to protest Israel during a match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Israel drew with Mali 1-1 in an Olympic football match at Paris' Parc des Princes Stadium as many fans in the stands protested Israel waving Palestinian flags.

Before the kick-off, some sections of the crowd at the stadium booed the Israeli national anthem.

The match was held without major security incidents.

07:45 GMT — Hamas slams, refutes Netanyahu’s speech to US Congress

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas strongly criticised allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a speech at the US Congress, accusing him of "distorting facts" over his war conduct in Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas slammed what it said "giving him an opportunity to polish his face before the world and cover up the mass killings and ethnic cleansing in Gaza," stressing that he is supposed to be handed to the International Criminal Court over his war crimes.

Hamas said Netanyahu used a "degrading propaganda and lies" that he used "as an excuse to commit the most horrific crimes against women, children, and the elderly in Gaza."

Contrary to what Netanyahu claimed on his efforts to return Israeli captives in Gaza, Hamas accused him of thwarting "all efforts aimed at ending the war and concluding a deal to release the prisoners, despite the continuous efforts of mediators."

Hamas also said Netanyahu's vision about the future of Gaza after the end of the war is "mere illusions and fantasies he tries to promote," and that Palestinian people "alone have the right to determine their fate and decide who governs them."

07:30 GMT — Israeli army says its air defences intercepted 2 drones fired from Lebanon

The Israeli army said its air defences downed two drones that were fired from Lebanon, and struck areas across southern Lebanon as clashes with Hezbollah continue.

In a statement, the Israeli army said "a suspected aerial object" entered Israeli space and was shot down by the army's air defences over the Bar'am border area.

The incident triggered the activation of the rocket in-coming sirens in the area over fear of falling shrapnel from the interception operation, the military statement added.

In another statement, the army announced intercepting a drone off the coast of Nahariya.

07:22 GMT — Israel army says recovered bodies of five hostages held in Gaza

Israeli forces retrieved the bodies of five Israelis held in Gaza after they were killed during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, the military said.

It said the bodies of Maya Goren as well as soldiers Tomer Ahimas and Kiril Brodski, along with Ravid Aryeh Katz and Oren Goldin -- military reservists -- had been returned to Israel.

07:00 GMT — Israeli army raids several areas across occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinians

The Israeli army early carried out several raids against areas across the occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinians, while 3 Israelis were injured in an attack near Qalqilya city.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli army stormed into Tulkarem city, the northern West Bank, raided several homes, and arrested a journalist, identified as Hazem Naser, before its withdrawal from the city.

In the central West Bank, the Israeli army also raided the towns of Kafr Ni'ma, Silwad and Abwein.

More Israeli raids were reported in areas in Nablus and Jenin cities in the northern West Bank.

06:11 GMT — Netanyahu, Biden to meet on elusive Gaza deal

Joe Biden will press Benjamin Netanyahu to seal a Gaza ceasefire deal, despite the US president's shock election exit threatening to limit his leverage over the Israeli premier.

Netanyahu will also meet Vice President Kamala Harris -- the likely new Democratic presidential nominee -- at the White House, one day after he gave a speech to the US Congress vowing "total victory" against Hamas.

Relations between Biden and Netanyahu are tense over Israel's brutal war in Gaza, despite the US president's continued military and political support for Washington's key Middle East ally.

4:30 GMT — Israel kills several Palestinians in northern Gaza

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech to the US Congress about how Israeli army cares for civilians, an Israeli air strike targeting a gathering in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern part of besieged Gaza killed several Palestinians and wounded many others.

Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that an Israeli aircraft launched the strike on a gathering in the Beit Lahia project area, resulting in numerous casualties.

Israeli artillery also intensified shelling in the Zaytoun, Tel al-Hawa and Shuja'iyya neighbourhoods in Gaza City, they added.

03:53 GMT — Israeli army says it recovered bodies of 2 hostages

Israeli local media claims Israeli army has recovered the bodies of two hostages who were killed during the October 7 attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and were being held in Gaza.

While not elaborating on how and when precisely they were killed, Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily claims Maya Goren and Oren Goldin were killed more than nine months ago and the Israeli army returned their bodies.

The announcement noted that Goren will be buried "next to her husband Avner Goren" who also died in the October 7 events.

03:23 GMT — Israeli opposition leaders slam Netanyahu's speech to US Congress

Israeli opposition leaders sharply criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress. Yair Lapid, the leader of the There Is a Future Party, called the address "disgraceful."

"Disgrace! An hour of talking without uttering the single sentence: 'There will be a kidnapping deal,'" Lapid wrote on X, accusing Netanyahu of failing to address a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Similarly, Deputy Knesset Speaker Evgeny Sova from the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu Party took to X to criticise Netanyahu's leadership.

For our live updates from Wednesday, July 24, 2024, click here.