Live Updates: Palestinian death toll in Israel's war on Gaza climbs to 39,677

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

1004 GMT — Palestinian death toll in Israel's war on Gaza climbs to 39,677

The Israeli army has killed 24 more Palestinians in attacks across Gaza, taking the overall death toll since October 7 last year to 39,677, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 91,645 others have been injured in the assault.

"Israeli forces killed 24 people and injured 110 others in two 'massacres' against families in the last 24 hours," the ministry also said. "Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," it added.

1024 GMT — Protesters bust Israeli court hearing on Palestinian abuse case

Protesters have disrupted an Israeli Supreme Court hearing about a shadowy military facility where Israel held Palestinian detainees throughout the war in Gaza.

The protesters yelled "Shame!" as the attorney for many Israeli human rights groups argued that the Sde Teiman facility should be closed permanently over repeated allegations of detainee abuse.

An Associated Press investigation into the facility, as well as others by rights groups, found detainees endured abysmal conditions there.

The Israeli military said on July 29 that it detained nine soldiers for questioning following allegations of "substantial abuse" of a detainee at Sde Teiman, located in southern Israel.

1023 GMT — US-led air strikes target Houthi-controlled territory

Yemen's Houthis say a United States-led coalition carried out two air strikes late Tuesday in territory controlled by the Iran-backed armed group.

The region is bracing for a potential counterattack by Iran and its allies following the assassinationof senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures in Beirut and Tehran, in strikes attributed to Israel.

The Houthis' military media office said the strikes occurred in the Taiz province without providing further detail.

There was no immediate comment from the US military.

0904 GMT — Israel detains 26 Palestinians; nearly 10,000 arrested since Oct 7

The Israeli army has detained 26 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, prisoners' affairs groups said.

According to a joint statement for the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the new arrests bring the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since October last year to 10,000, including those who were released after being arrested.

The statement noted that the figure doesn't include those arrested from Gaza whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.

0652 GMT — Israel targets Gaza's Beit Hanoon with fresh evacuation orders

The Israeli military has issued new orders for an area in northern Gaza, calling on the Palestinians to again leave the territory that was heavily bombed at the start of the war some 10 months ago.

The military said it would respond to a Hamas rocket attack from the Beit Hanoon area the day before and urged residents to relocate to Gaza City, large areas of which have been destroyed.

Beit Hanoon, which is close to the border, was one of the first targets of the massive bombardment and ground invasion launched after Hamas's October 7 attack.

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to areas where past air and ground operations caused widespread destruction.

The vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced within the narrow coastal enclave since the start of the invasion — often multiple times.

Hundreds of thousands are sheltering in crowded tent camps.

0633 GMT — Casualties in Israeli overnight raids across Gaza

Several Palestinians were killed and injured in overnight raids across Gaza as the Israeli onslaught entered its day 306, Wafa news agency has reported.

A Palestinian, his wife and son were killed and others injured in an Israeli air strike on a residential home in eastern Gaza City.

Israeli military vehicles, meanwhile, opened fire on homes in eastern Al Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza, injuring a number of Palestinians.

Gun boats also opened fire on the western areas of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza. Warplanes struck areas in the cities of Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, while the army shelled western areas of Rafah, southern Gaza.

05:33 GMT — Iran, Israel 'should not escalate this conflict' — Blinken

Both Iran and Israel should avoid escalating conflict in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, in his most direct wording toward US ally Israel, which has created possibility of a larger war in the region after back-to-back assassinations in Iran and Lebanon.

"No one should escalate this conflict. We've been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message directly to Israel," Blinken told reporters.

Blinken said Gaza prisoner swap-ceasefire negotiations have reached final stage and it is critical that parties work to finalise agreement as soon as possible.

03:50 GMT — Hezbollah hails Hamas' Sinwar on becoming new negotiator

Lebanon's Hezbollah has congratulated Yahya Sinwar on becoming Hamas' new political chief, saying it shows Israel's goals in assassinating his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, have failed.

Sinwar will replace Ismail Haniyeh, chief of Hamas' political bureau and lead peace negotiator, who was assassinated by Israel in Tehran after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's new president on July 31.

Iran has pledged to avenge Haniyeh's assassination by Netanyahu's regime in a retribution Israel and its main backer US awaits.

03:23 GMT — Iran, Israel 'should not escalate this conflict': Blinken

Both Iran and Israel should avoid escalating conflict in the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, in his most direct wording toward US ally Israel, which has created possibility of a larger war in the region after back-to-back assassinations in Iran and Lebanon.

"No one should escalate this conflict. We've been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message directly to Israel," Blinken told reporters.

Blinken said Gaza hostage-ceasefire negotiations have reached final stage and it is critical that parties work to finalise agreement as soon as possible.

03:00 GMT — Smotrich calls for assassination of Nasrallah

Israel's extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

"Israel should not respond to Nasrallah; Israel should eliminate Nasrallah," Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism party, wrote on X.

The post came in response to a speech by Nasrallah in which he vowed a "significant and effective" response to Israel's assassination of prominent Hezbollah figure Fuad Shukr.

20:30 GMT — Israel FM calls to assassinate new Hamas chief Sinwar

Israel's extremist foreign minister has called to "swiftly eliminate" Yahya Sinwar, who was appointed by Hamas as the group's new political leader, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in Tehran last week.

"The appointment of arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar as the new leader of Hamas, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, is yet another compelling reason to swiftly eliminate him and wipe this vile organisation off the face of the Earth," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on social media site X.

For our live updates from Tuesday, August 6, 2024, click here.