Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 16 people in the Gaza Strip.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital received the bodies, which were counted by an Associated Press reporter and included the remains of a woman and three children, after strikes overnight and into Thursday.
The Israeli offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants or civilians. Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250. Around 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker a cease-fire deal and hostage release but major gaps remain.
Here’s the latest:
Israel’s evacuation orders have displaced 90% of Gaza residents, UN says
UNITED NATIONS — Successive Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza, including 12 just this month, have displaced 90% of its 2.1 million residents since the Israel-Hamas war began last October, often multiple times, the top United Nations humanitarian official for the Palestinian territory says.
Muhannad Hadi said the evacuation orders are endangering civilians instead of protecting them. “They are forcing families to flee again, often under fire and with the few belongings they can carry with them, into an ever-shrinking area” that is crowded and unsafe.
Civilians are being deprived of medical care, shelter, water wells and humanitarian supplies, “running from one destroyed place to another, with no end in sight,” he said.
Hadi said in the statement Thursday that international humanitarian law requires the protection of civilians. “The way forward is as clear as it is urgent: protect civilians, release the hostages, facilitate humanitarian access, agree on a cease-fire.”
The evacuations are also the latest threat to U.N. personnel working in Gaza and affects humanitarian facilities, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who cited as an example that the U.N. World Food Program lost access to its warehouse in central Deir al-Balah.
“This was the third and last operational warehouse in Gaza’s middle area,” Dujarric said. “Five community kitchens operated by WFP have also been evacuated, as the agency seeks new locations for them.”
Palestinian UN ambassador plans resolution to spur end of Israel’s occupation
UNITED NATIONS — Palestinians say they plan to introduce a U.N. General Assembly resolution in September enshrining the recent sweeping ruling by the U.N.’s top court that declared Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful – and setting a time frame for it to end.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that the resolution, which will not be legally binding, is essential to spur the end of Israel’s occupation.
“We are sick and tired of waiting,” he said. “The time for waiting is over.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon, who spoke to the council after Mansour, made no mention of the Palestinians’ plan. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denounced the nonbinding opinion by the ICJ’s 15 judges, saying the territories are part of the Jewish people’s historic homeland.
Mansour did not disclose the time frame the Palestinians are planning to include in the General Assembly resolution.
He said the resolution will be “a significant step” toward a two-state solution, where independent states of Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in peace.
Israel issues new evacuation orders for Gaza
JERUSALEM — Israel has issued a new round of evacuation orders for a large swath of the southern Gaza Strip, covering part of the designated humanitarian zone where it has told civilians to go.
The Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee on Thursday posted the evacuation orders on social media, advising Palestinians east of Khan Younis to move west, toward the coast. The latest orders send more Palestinians fleeing again into a tiny overcrowded strip of land near the sea. Many people in Gaza say there is nowhere that is truly safe, as Israel has repeatedly mounted attacks inside the designated humanitarian zone.
The Israeli military has recently pushed farther into the southern town of Khan Younis, saying Hamas was trying to regroup there. Since the start of August, the military has issued at least 10 evacuation orders in southern and central Gaza, according to a count by The Associated Press.
Over 80% of Gaza’s population has been displaced over the course of the war, according to the United Nations. Many Palestinians are packed into unsanitary tent camps that lack toilets, clean water and garbage disposal, where infectious diseases run rampant.
US ambassador says UN Security Council should urge Hamas to accept plan to break the cease-fire impasse
UNITED NATIONS — The American ambassador to the United Nations is asking the Security Council to unite and use its leverage to urge Hamas to accept a proposal meant to bridge gaps in cease-fire talks with Israel.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council Thursday that it’s “a decisive moment” for the talks that resumed in Qatar this week and for the region. She urged all 15 council members to keep sending strong messages “to other actors in the region to avoid actions that would move us away from finalizing this deal.”
Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said a U.S. resolution endorsing a cease-fire plan that the Security Council approved in June has had no impact and Israel “is continuing its brutal operation” in Gaza. He accused the U.S. of modifying the original deal to suit close ally Israel.
A sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas has long rejected continued Israeli control of the areas and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Israeli delegation joins talks in Cairo
JERUSALEM — The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office says a delegation from the country has arrived in Cairo to resume efforts to salvage a Gaza cease-fire deal.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the Israeli delegation that landed in Egypt’s capital Thursday includes David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad foreign intelligence service, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, and top general Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano.
The talks on the proposed cease-fire and hostage release deal — mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar — seek to narrow the remaining differences between Israel and Hamas.
A crucial sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza. Hamas has long rejected continued Israeli control of the area and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Talks are underway in Cairo, official says
WASHINGTON — Talks are underway on Thursday among American, Egyptian and Israeli officials in Cairo as the White House pushes Israel and Hamas to come to terms on a bridging proposal that would lead to a cease-fire in Gaza, according to a United States official.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the matter. The official said Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was among the officials leading the American delegation.
It remained unclear if Thursday’s talks would lead to another round of indirect negotiations with Hamas as hopes for achieving a cease-fire, at least in the near term, have diminished with Israel and Hamas.
Hamas and Israel have signaled that challenges remain amid significant differences over the presence of Israeli troops in two strategic corridors in Gaza and other issues.
Biden on Wednesday spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president said in a social media posting that he made clear to Netanyahu “that we must bring the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure.”
