Israel forcibly displaces Gaza's Deir el-Balah, humanitarian zones amid continued strikes

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

The Wafa news agency reports that 11 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the Hamouda family home in Beit Lahiya.

According to medical sources, most of the victims were women and children. Their charred bodies were transported to Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Wafa also noted that several others remain trapped under the rubble.

Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “attacks against civilians must stop” in a post condemning the recent Israeli attack on a school in Gaza.

“According to [the UN], more than 20 strikes on schools sheltering displaced people have occurred since July 4, resulting in the deaths of nearly 300 people,” the ministry said in a post on X.

Belgium condemns the attack on a school in #Gaza.

According to @UN, more than 20 strikes on schools sheltering displaced people took place since July 4, killing nearly 300 people.

❌Attacks against civilians must stop. #IHL must be respected. We repeat our call for a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/BjNuhofEWh

— 🇧🇪 Belgium MFA (@BelgiumMFA) August 21, 2024

The Palestinian Wafa news agency reports that at least eight people have been killed and many others wounded in an Israeli attack on a house in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza.

The report also noted that “intensive raids” are currently underway in Deir el-Balah.

Ilhan Omar, a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, has urged Kamala Harris to take a new approach regarding Gaza, an issue that continues to create division within the Democratic Party as the November elections approach.

Harris has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards pro-Palestine groups but has stopped short of implementing policy changes, such as cutting off aid to Israel, despite reports of widespread violations of international law by Israeli forces.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has an opportunity to demonstrate our party’s courage and commitment to ending the genocide not just in condemning it with words, but in action by conditioning aid,” Omar stated on X. “A better world is possible, but we must have the courage to fight for it."

Vice President Kamala Harris has an opportunity to demonstrate our party’s courage and commitment to ending the genocide not just in condemning it with words, but in action by conditioning aid.

A better world is possible, but we must have the courage to fight for it. pic.twitter.com/2fQvpmCX7X

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 21, 2024

President Joe Biden pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas in a call on Wednesday, the White House said as talks on a truce stumble.

"The president stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles," the White House said in a statement.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for overseeing US military operations in the Middle East, has announced that it conducted strikes against multiple Houthi targets in Yemen.

This announcement comes amid rising tensions across the region, as both Israel and the US brace for a potential Iranian response following a series of Israeli assassinations.

August 21 U.S. Central Command Update

In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed an Iranian-backed Houthi surface-to-air missile and radar system in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

It was determined these systems presented a clear… pic.twitter.com/91h5UF3wya

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 21, 2024

American Airlines is suspending flights to Israel through late March, extending a break in service that started in the early days of the war in Gaza.

A spokesperson for the airline said Wednesday that customers with tickets for flights to Tel Aviv can rebook at no extra charge or cancel their trip and get a refund.

The airline said flights to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv will be suspended through 29 March. The airline updated a travel advisory on its website over the weekend.

“We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to assist customers traveling between Israel and European cities with service to the U.S.,” the spokesperson said.

Delta Air Lines extended its suspension of Tel Aviv flights through 30 September from 31 August. United Airlines has suspended service indefinitely.

Israel has not agreed to withdraw its troops from the so-called Philadelphi corridor along the border between Egypt and Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday, denying an Israeli television report.

"Israel will insist on the achievement of all of its objectives for the war, as they have been defined by the Security Cabinet, including that Gaza never again constitutes a security threat to Israel. This requires securing the southern border," Netahyahu's office said in a statement. 

Israel's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring home the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza, amid persistent reports in the Israeli media that Netanyahu is working to scuttle those efforts.

In a post on Tuesday, Lapid said Netanyahu’s “attempts to sabotage the negotiations should stop,” warning that failure to reach a deal could place the lives of the remaining captives in jeopardy.

“If Netanyahu is so sure of his negotiating skill, let him go to Egypt and sit there until he makes a deal,” Lapid said on Wednesday.

“That is what a responsible PM who cares about his citizens’ lives should do. The only reason he doesn’t do it is because he no longer has a soul."

💥Opposition Leader Lapid: "If Netanyahu is so sure of his negotiating skill, let him go to Egypt & sit there until he makes a deal. That is what a responsible PM who cares about his citizens lives should do. The only reason he doesn't do it is because he no longer has a soul." https://t.co/EDfd7umUGY

— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) August 21, 2024

Israel's outgoing head of military intelligence took responsibility for his country's failures to defend its border on 7 Oct. at his resignation ceremony on Wednesday.

Major General Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, announced his resignation in April and was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the deadliest attack in Israel's history.

"The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault," Haliva said at the ceremony on Wednesday, and he called for a national investigation "in order to study" and "understand deeply" the reasons that led to the attack.

At least 55 protesters were arrested following violent clashes with police in Chicago on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, a situation the police chief called “a danger to our city.”

Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Wednesday that those arrested outside the Israeli Consulate, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the United Center where Democrats were meeting, “showed up with the intention of committing acts of violence, vandalism.”

“As the Chicago Police Department, we did everything that we could to de-escalate that situation," Snelling said during a news conference. "But there’s only so much de-escalation that you can attempt before it becomes excessive repetition.”

The intense confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and officers began minutes into the demonstration, after some protesters — many dressed in black, their faces covered — charged at a line of police who had blocked their march. They eventually moved past the officers but were penned in several times throughout the night by police in riot gear who did not allow protesters to disperse.

UNRWA reports that ongoing military operations and repeated evacuation orders have compelled families in the Gaza Strip to flee repeatedly.

The UN agency noted that many people are now seeking refuge in areas of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, where approximately 30,000 individuals are crammed into each square kilometre (0.4 square miles).

"Before the conflict, the population density was only 1,200 per square kilometre," the agency added.

Al-Mawasi, where thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken shelter, has been targeted multiple times by Israeli forces since October.

Protracted military operations & repeated evacuation orders have forced families in the #GazaStrip to flee again & again.

Many are seeking shelter in parts of Al Mawasi, where around 30,000 people are packed into every km². Before the war, there were only 1,200 per km² - @UNOCHA pic.twitter.com/SK4UvwbhLN

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 21, 2024

US President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and focus on a new demand by the Israeli leader that Israel keep forces deployed along a land corridor between Egypt and Gaza, Axios reported, citing an unnamed source.

Biden wants Netanyahu to soften Israel's position on the issue, Axios reported.

In talks to halt fighting in the 10-month-old war, Hamas is seeking a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-km-long (nine-mile) stretch of land along the coastal enclave's southern border with Egypt.

Israel wants to retain control of the corridor, which it captured in late May, after destroying dozens of tunnels beneath it that it says had served to smuggle in weapons to Gaza's militant groups.

(Reuters)

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini issued a statement on X commenting on a recent Israeli airstrike that struck an UNRWA run school in Gaza City that caused multiple casualties, including the deaths of at least two people. 

"Gaza is no place for Children anymore. They are the first casualty of this merciless war," Lazzarini said.

"We cannot let the unbearable become a new norm. Enough. A ceasefire is beyond due," he added.

Is there any humanity left?
Reports of another horrific attack today on one of our @UNRWA schools in #Gaza city.
Children reported killed & injured. Some were burnt to death. #Gaza is no place for children anymore.
They are the first casualty of this merciless war.
We cannot…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) August 21, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is "ready for any scenario, both defensive and on the attack" during a visit to an air force base near the northern city of Haifa.

According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu called the air force "our iron fist that can strike the soft underbelly of our enemies."

The Palestinian armed resistance groups decided to resume "suicide operations" within Israeli territories, signalling a new phase in the fighting as Israel's genocidal war continues past its tenth month.

On Monday, the Palestinian Islamic movement, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv explosion on 18 August. 

"In cooperation with our brothers in al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the PIJ, we have implemented the operation that took place in Tel Aviv," al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a press statement sent to The New Arab. 

"The Tel Aviv attack came as a response to the ongoing Israeli crimes against our people in the Gaza Strip," al-Qassam noted, vowing to resume the "military attacks and explosions" in the Israeli cities. 

Israel's police and the Shin Bet internal security agency described the explosion in Tel Aviv as a "terrorist attack", claiming that the target was a synagogue.

You can read the rest of this article by The New Arab's Gaza correspondent here.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has said it would not cooperate with Israeli government plans for a state memorial for the anniversary of the Hamas 7 October attack on Israel, joining several Kibbutz that border Gaza.

According to the Times of Israel, the forum said that it "will join with border communities and towns on the Gaza border and south to mark the anniversary of the massacre, to demand the restoration of security, the return of abductees, the restoration of communities, and the investigation of the failures that led to the terrible disaster on October 7, 2023." 

An Israeli airstrike targeting the UNRWA run Salah al-Din School in Gaza City has killed two people and wounded 15 others according to Al Jazeera citing Gaza's civil defence.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has described a potential retaliation to Hezbollah's strike on the Israeli settlement of Katzrin in the occupied Golan Heights as an "opportunity we must not miss" during a visit to the site.

"You also have to attack, you also have to make a campaign" he was quotes as saying by the Times of Israel. 

"The State of Israel needs to respond in the most unequivocal, clearest way," he added. 

His comments come after one person was injured in a Hezbollah rocket barrage on the settlement. Hezbollah says the barrage came as retaliation for Israeli strikes in Bekaa that killed one and wounded 20.

The Humanitarian Communications co-lead for ActionAid on Gaza, Frankie Leach, has called on the UK's Foreign Minister David Lammy to intervene following Israel's new forced displacement of areas around Deir el-Balah and the Israeli designated humanitarian zone.

"Actionaid partners in Deir Al Balah have received 'evacuation' orders from Israel today, in the supposed 'humanitarian zone'. It is one of the only places NGO and CSO groups can operate and deliver aid in, despite huge danger," Leach said. 

Leach noted that 11,483 people would be affected by the order.

11,483 people will be affected by these evacuation orders, often with only an hour to move their entire families, and to where? For our partners, it means moving an entire operation and all of our equipment to an unknown location that could just be sat on a road for all we know.

— Frankie Leach (@francesleach_) August 21, 2024

Israeli banks are refusing shekel cash transfers from Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank in a move that could soon prevent Palestinians from accessing vital goods and services, Palestinian officials said.

The office of Israel's finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in June extended a waiver that allows the country's banks to cooperate with Palestinian banks in the West Bank, had no immediate comment.

"In the next few days, banks in Palestine will be unable to finance trade operations between Palestinian and Israeli merchants, as their ability to make financial transfers is directly connected to shipping the accumulated shekel banknotes to their Israeli counterparts," the Palestinian Monetary Authority said.

It added this will prevent Palestinians from accessing vital goods and services as they will be unable to pay for them through official banking channels.

(Reuters)

A senior official from the Palestinian Fatah movement told news agency AFP on Wednesday Israel killed a fellow party member in south Lebanon in order to start a regional war.

The "assassination of a Fatah official is further proof that Israel wants to ignite a full-scale war in the region", Tawfiq Tirawy, a member of Fatah's central committee, told AFP, referring to the killing of Khalil Makdah in an air strike in Lebanon blamed on Israel.

The Israeli army said it targeted in an air strike in Lebanon on Wednesday Khalil al-Maqdah, a commander in the armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah movement, describing him as having worked for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

"Earlier today... an air force aircraft targeted Khalil al-Maqdah in the Sidon area of southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement, which also claimed that Maqdah and his brother worked for Iran in "directing attacks and transferring funds and weapons" within the occupied West Bank.

Israel has ordered residents in Deri el-Balah to evacuate with Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military's Arabic spokesperson, describing the area of evacuation as a "dangerous combat zone". 

Part of the evacuation order cuts into the Israeli designated humanitarian zone on the coast of the enclave.

Lebanon's Hezbollah launched an attack with a swarm of drones on military posts in the kibbutz of Amiad in northern Israel, the armed group said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Israeli kibbutz is located approximately 22 kilometres (14 miles) from the Lebanese border. Israel's military said it could not confirm the attack.

Hezbollah said the attack was a retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Lebanese Bekaa region overnight.

(Reuters)

More than 40,223 Palestinians have been killed and 92,981 have been injured in the Israel's war on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

An Israeli strike in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on Wednesday killed a Fatah official, said a leader from the Palestinian group and a security source, marking the first such attack reported on Fatah in over 10 months of cross-border clashes.

"The Israeli strike in Sidon killed (Fatah) group official Khalil Makdah," said Fathi Abu al-Aradat, a senior member of the Palestinian president's movement, with a security source confirming the report to AFP and adding the strike hit his car.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the latest state efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in a phone call on Wednesday, Turkey's foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Spokesperson Oncu Keceli also said the call had taken place at the request of the US side, adding the two ministers also discussed regional developments. He did not provide any further details.

(Reuters)

The oil products tanker Sounion reported being attacked by two small boats and struck by three projectiles in the Red Sea off Yemen on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

There were no casualties reported among the 25 crew members onboard but the Greek-flagged vessel said it was no longer under command, UKMTO added.

The vessel reported being approached by two small craft with approximately 15 people onboard and a brief exchange of small arms fire, UKMTO said.

The exchange took place 77 nautical miles west of Yemen's port of Hodeidah, it said.

British security firm Ambrey separately reported an incident in the same area but did not provide further detail.

The company operating the tanker was not immediately available for comment.

20240821 INCIDENT 110 WARNING - ATTACK - UPDATE 001https://t.co/fX3hWupi7g

UKMTO has received a report of an incident 77NM west of Al Hudayah, Yemen.#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/nGA12WSafR

— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) August 21, 2024

(Reuters)

At least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a marketplace in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah on Tuesday, a medical source said.

The targeted area was classified by the Israeli army as a "civilian safe zone" amid Israel's ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

The attack came shortly after at least 12 people were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) on Tuesday claimed it had carried out a drone attack on what it described as a "vital target" in the southern Israeli coastal city of Eilat.

The IRI - an alliance of Iran-backed groups active in Iraq and Syria - said that the attack had come "in support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres the usurper entity [Israel] commits against civilians".

On Sunday, the IRI claimed an attack on a military target in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Since the start of the Gaza war, IRI has claimed it launched a series of attacks targeting areas inside Israel. 

Minister of State at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammed al-Khulaifi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed joint mediation efforts to end the war in Gaza, on Tuesday in Doha.

They called for de-escalation in the region, Qatari foreign ministry said, adding that they had also reviewed how "strategic" relations between Doha and Washington could be boosted.

The ministry added in a separate statement that Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani had "stressed the importance of unifying regional and international efforts to reach a deal" for a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage-prisoner exchange in his conversation with Blinken.

Blinken arrived on Tuesday in Qatar after stops in Israel and Egypt in efforts to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in a televised interview that the next round of negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire to end the war in the Gaza Strip would be held on 22-23 August.

A series of deadly Israeli strikes overnight in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley have killed one person and injured 20 others.

Israeli aircraft carried out three strikes on the Mazraat al-Dhlil area on the outskirts of the town of Bodai, according to report by Lebanon's state news agency NNA.

The strike killed a young man and injured 20 civilians, the report said, adding that among those injured were eight children, six of whom were between the ages of two and ten years old.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV reported that "large barrage of rockets" had been launched Wednesday morning towards the occupied Golan Heights.

The report said that the attack resulted in "five direct hits on buildings" in the Israeli settlement of Katzrin, citing Israeli media.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that four of its fighters had been killed.