Live Updates: Gaza truce must involve 'complete' Israeli withdrawal — Hamas

Friday, August 16, 2024

4:20 GMT — Gaza truce must involve 'complete' Israeli withdrawal — Hamas

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said any Gaza ceasefire deal must involve the total withdrawal of Israeli invading troops from the Palestinian territory.

"Any agreement must achieve a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete (Israeli) withdrawal from Gaza, (and) the return of the displaced," Hamas official Hossam Badran said in a statement after truce talks resumed in Doha.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt met with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month Israeli war surpassed 40,000.

03:50 GMT — Mediators concluded 'constructive' day of discussions on ceasefire

Mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States had concluded a "constructive" day of discussions on a potential Gaza ceasefire deal and talks will resume on Friday, a US official said.

Meanwhile, Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said that the ceasefire-hostage talks will continue on Friday.

The spokesperson added in a statement that the efforts of the mediators are ongoing to move forward in endeavors to reach a ceasefire that would facilitate the release of hostages and enable the entry of the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

03:20 GMT — Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers attack West Bank village, killing a Palestinian

Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers, some wearing masks, have attacked a Palestinian village near the city of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, burning cars and killing at least one person, authorities said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said one Palestinian was killed and another critically wounded by Israeli settlers' gunfire during the incident in the village of Jit, the latest in a series of attacks by violent Zionist settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Footage shared on social media showed cars and houses on fire following the attacks.

02:45 GMT — UN believes 40,000 death toll may be 'undercount'

The UN has emphasised that the death toll in the Gaza "is an approximation," and the number may be "an undercount."

Asked about UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk's statement on the death toll officially exceeding 40,000, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at a news conference that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shares Turk’s concerns.

"Given the large number and disturbing number of people who remain unaccounted for, who may be trapped or dead under the rubble, this number may, if anything, be an undercount."

02:00 GMT — US colleges brace for a resurgence in activism against Gaza war

As students return to colleges across the United States, administrators are bracing for a resurgence in activism against the war in Gaza, and some schools are adopting rules to limit the kind of protests that swept campuses last spring.

While the summer break provided a respite in student demonstrations against the Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, it also gave both student protesters and higher education officials a chance to regroup and strategise for the fall semester.

The stakes remain high. At Columbia University, President Minouche Shafik resigned on Wednesday after coming under heavy scrutiny for her handling of the pro-Palestine demonstrations at the campus in New York City, where the wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments began last spring.

For our live updates from Thursday, August 15, 2024, click here.