Dozens killed by Israel in another bloody day in Gaza

This live blog has now wrapped up for the evening. The New Arab will be back tomorrow at 9am with live updates from Gaza.

Turkey's foreign ministry has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "lying" in his statements regarding the security situation along the Egypt-Gaza border.

"Netanyahu... continues to lie to manipulate public opinion in order to cover up his crimes in Gaza and prevent ceasefire talks from reaching a conclusion," a statement from the ministry said on Wednesday, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported.

The statement followed Netanyahu's recent comments that the Egypt-Gaza border was used to transport weapons into the Palestinian territories. This allegation was "categorically rejected" by the Egyptian government.

"Netanyahu's recent allegations against Egypt for the purpose of maintaining the Israeli military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor are unacceptable," the ministry was also quoted as saying.

Standing alongside his Turkish counterpart, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called the situation in Gaza an “unprecedented catastrophe.

“I reiterate the joint stand of Egypt and Turkey calling for an immediate ceasefire, rejecting further escalation by Israel in the occupied West Bank, and taking tangible measures to live up to the aspiration of the Palestinian people for the establishment of an independent state based on 1967 borders with [occupied] East Jerusalem as its capital,” he said as quoted by Al Jazeera.

The family of a British aid worker killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza in April called for an independent investigation into his death on Wednesday.

James Kirby, from Bristol in southwest England, was one of seven people killed in a strike on a World Central Kitchen food convoy.

The deaths drew the ire of world leaders and Israel called the strike a "grave mistake".

Former serviceman Kirby and two other Britons killed were part of the security team accompanying aid workers employed by the US-based charity.

Speaking on behalf of his family ahead of a memorial service for Kirby, his cousin Louise Kirby called for a "proper, independent inquiry into this attack on innocent aid workers".

"Whilst we have had much support, we are still struggling to find answers and accountability for what happened," she said in a statement Wednesday.

Kirby said the family was "surprised" that they had not had any contact from Israel's ambassador to the UK or any Israeli official.

"Any family of a loved one who has been killed needs closure. We need to understand how this disaster could have happened," she said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Turkey and Egypt hold the same stance on the Palestine issue, Al Jazeera is reporting.

“We are doing all that we can to bring the bloodshed to an end and to continue to deliver the humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said in Ankara, standing alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

“This remains on the top of our priorities today,” he emphasised.

Palestinians near Jenin in the occupied West Bank held a funeral for a 16-year-old girl killed by Israeli forces, according to Reuters news agency.

Lujain Osama Musleh was killed in Kafr Dan, a town just outside Jenin, which has been the focus of Israeli raids for several days.

Her father, Osama Musleh, wept as funeral prayers were recited over her body. He recounted that his daughter had looked out the window after hearing gunfire, and he then found her with a gunshot wound to the forehead.

“I tried to save her. I tried to do something, but I couldn’t,” he said.

“The army was surrounding our area. I called for an ambulance, and they arrived late because a sniper shot towards them."

Switzerland’s government has approved a draft law that bans Hamas and designates it as a “terrorist organisation.”

The law, which will now go to parliament for review, prohibits Hamas, its successor groups, and any organisations acting on its behalf.

Violating the ban could result in imprisonment or a fine, according to the government.

The main United Nations agency for Palestinians said on Wednesday it was making good progress in rolling out a polio vaccine to children in Gaza, but called for a permanent ceasefire in the 11-month war to ease humanitarian suffering.

UNRWA said that three days into the campaign in areas of central Gaza around 187,000 children have received the vaccine. The campaign will move to other areas of the enclave in the second stage.

Israeli jets have carried out airstrikes on the towns of Ainatha and Kunin in southern Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

Earlier, the NNA reported that an Israeli air raid on Khiam, also in southern Lebanon, injured at least two people.

The Gaza health ministry said on Wednesday that at least 40,861 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, now nearing its 12th month.

The toll includes 42 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to ministry figures, which also list 94,398 people as wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on 7 October.

Israeli forces targeted a home in the Nuseirat camp, killing at least one person, according to reports from local media sources.

In Khan Younis, Israeli bombardment claimed two more lives, including a child, with both victims being taken to Nasser Hospital, reports the Wafa news agency.

Saudi Arabia, through its humanitarian arm, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), is continuing to carrying out airdrops of "quality food aid" to Gaza, according to the Saudi Gazette.  

The airdrops are being done in cooperation with Jordan.

"Two planeload of food supplies landed in Jordan on Monday, on its way to distribute among the people of the Gaza Strip. The relief supply was airdropped in cooperation with the Jordanian Armed Forces to overcome the difficulties caused by the closure of the border crossings by the Israeli occupation forces," the Saudi Gazette reported.

Israeli forces have detained 30 Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank since last night, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

The group reported that children and former prisoners are among those arrested.

This brings the total number of arrests in the West Bank since 7 October to over 10,400, the organization added.

Danish police on Wednesday apprehended activist Greta Thunberg at a Copenhagen protest against the war in Gaza, a spokesperson for the student group organising the demonstration said.

Six people were detained at the scene at the Copenhagen University after some 20 people had blocked the entrance to a building and three entered, a police spokesperson told Reuters.

Police declined to confirm the identities of any of those arrested but a spokesperson for the Students Against the Occupation told Reuters that Thunberg had been held.

A picture of Thunberg published by daily Ekstra Bladet showed Thunberg wearing what the newspaper said were handcuffs.

Hamas released on Tuesday the second video in a series of recordings showing the "last messages" of each of the six hostages that it said were killed by the Israeli army.

The video shows Ori Danino addressing the Israeli prime minister and war cabinet, saying: “You failed in your mission to protect us, the citizens.”

He also addressed the people of Israel, saying: “Do not neglect us.”

A day earlier, Hamas released a video of Eden Yerushalmi who urged Israelis to “take to the streets and demonstrate” to bring the hostages home.

An Israeli army spokesman alleged that the captives, whose bodies were recovered on 20 August, had been reportedly killed shortly before Israeli troops found them in a tunnel.

However, an investigation by The New Arab’s Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, found that at least three of the hostages were alive as late as Saturday evening and were probably killed in a botched Israeli rescue attempt

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, has condemned the Israeli army's ongoing offensive in the occupied West Bank.

“What the Israeli army is doing in Jenin and other locations in the West Bank is a continuation of the extermination campaign it has been waging in Gaza,” Rajagopal stated in a post on X.

“What’s the justification and the end game here?” he questioned.

“When will the rest of the world and the Israeli public say, enough!” he added.

What the Israeli army is doing in Jenin and other locations in the West Bank is a continuation of the extermination campaign it has been waging in Gaza. What’s the justification and the end game here? When will the rest of the world and the Israeli public say, Enough! https://t.co/hiUewLUrUe

— UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing (@adequatehousing) September 3, 2024

Israeli forces have ordered civil defence crews to halt rescue efforts at a Gaza City college that was struck yesterday by an Israeli air attack.

But the crews are still rushing to retrieve dozens of people trapped under the rubble, Ahmed al-Kahlout, director of civil defence in northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera.

“There is a large amount of destruction in this place and there’s a huge fire as a result of the bombing,” al-Kahlout said.

“Along with the medical teams, our crews are trying to evacuate a number of killed and wounded and are looking for those missing under the rubble of this destroyed centre.”

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for an end to discussions with Hamas, urging the government to “stop negotiating” and cut off Gaza's fuel and electricity supply.

“A country whose six hostages were murdered in cold blood does not negotiate with the killers but rather halts the negotiations, stops providing them with fuel and electricity, and crushes them until their defeat,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Continuing negotiations only encourages them to produce more and more terror,” he added.