Israel pounds central Gaza, sends tanks into north of Rafah

The live blog has now ended and will be back at 9pm tomorrow. You can read more of The New Arab's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza here.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry has condemned an Israeli airstrike on the al-Razi school in Gaza's Nuseirat Refugee Camp that killed 23 people, as well as an attack that killed 13 in the Attar area in the west of Khan Younis.

The foreign ministry said that "the Kingdom renews its categorical rejection of the continuation of Israeli genocidal crimes while demanding an immediate ceasefire and ensuring the protection of civilians, relief facilities, and their workers."

It added that "the Kingdom also affirms the legal, humanitarian, and moral responsibility placed on the international community to activate international accountability mechanisms and put an end to these ongoing violations of international law and international legitimacy resolutions by the Israeli occupation forces."

#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses Saudi Arabia’s strong condemnation and denunciation of targeting Al-Razi School, affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza, and the targeting of Al-Attar area in Khan Younis. pic.twitter.com/0C1Gepx0Zu

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) July 17, 2024

An Israeli strike targeting a house in Gaza City has killed seven people, including two children, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. 

The UN has warned that the humanitarian system in Gaza is on the brink of collapse, with Courtenay Rattray, Chef-de-Cabinet, warned that "Rafah is in ruins - and the Rafah crossing remains closed, further hampering humanitarian operations."

He added that "Almost two million people have been displaced - nearly the entire population of Gaza - and many of them multiple times"

The humanitarian support system in Gaza is close to total collapse and there is a complete breakdown of public order.

A humanitarian ceasefire & the unconditional release of all hostages are urgently needed. https://t.co/lnU1rQ8P0K pic.twitter.com/GFSjseVxid

— United Nations (@UN) July 17, 2024

The Israeli Knesset has passed a resolution opposing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

According to Haaretz the resolution states that "the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel would constitute an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region."

The resolution was supported by 68 MKs and opposed by 9, with no abstentions.

Thousands of Israeli's have gone out to protest demanding a hostage deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, including in the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. Two demonstration organisers were arrested by police in Haifa.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has slammed a hostage negotiation deal at a cabinet meeting held by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ben-Gvir was quoted by Haaretz has declaring that "making a reckless deal now would not only endanger Israel, but would be a slap in the face of Trump, and a win for Biden."

The US military's problem-plagued mission to deliver aid to Gaza via a temporary pier has ended, a senior American officer said on Wednesday.

"The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete, so there's no more need to use the pier," Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told journalists.

Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi, alongside the chief of the north command, has set out the military's plans for an invasion of Lebanon to US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Michael Kurilla, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan. 

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli soldiers stationed on the Israel-Lebanon border that the moment was "approaching" when a decision would be made whether to invade south Lebanon.

"We are approaching the junction, whether we can return our residents through an agreement process, or if we need to conduct this process in a military operation," Gallant was quoted as saying by Haaretz.

He also said that the Israeli army can "shift from a major effort in the south to a major effort in the north in an instant."

A former volunteer for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) who rejoined the organisation due to Israel's war on Gaza has spoken about the challenges faced by PRCS due to the war.

During the video, released by PRCS, Nahid Al-Shawa spoke about how his colleagues have been targeted by Israeli strikes while operating in the enclave, as well as the poor conditions of hospitals, ambulances and lack of supplies.

Volunteer EMT Nahid Al-Shawa worked for many years with the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance crews in #Gaza City before retiring. However, he returned and joined as a volunteer to serve humanity during the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
👇In this video, Nahid talks about the… pic.twitter.com/zt23PKpswv

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 17, 2024

A Knesset bill that would establish a commission of inquiry into the events of 7 October has been rejected after a vote. The bill, which was proposed seprately by two Members of the Knesset (MKs), Orit Farkash of National Unity and Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid, was rejected by 53 MKs against to 51 in favour.

The US State Department said Wednesday that Washington was imposing visa restrictions on a group of individuals for having been "involved in or meaningfully contributed to undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank."

Israel's policy toward the West Bank is dooming any prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday.

Through administrative and legal steps, Israel is changing the geography of the West Bank, Guterres said in a statement read by his chief of staff, Courtenay Rattray, during a meeting of the Security Council.

Settlement expansion is expected to speed up due to big land seizures in strategic areas and changes to planning, land management and governance, Guterres added.

"Recent developments are driving a stake through the heart of any prospect for a two-state solution," said the UN chief.

The US has designated a former Israeli army sergeant for involvement in an extrajudicial killing in the occupied West Bank, the US State Department said Wednesday.

When Shaheen Jarkas fled Syria's war for Lebanon, he hoped his family would be safe. Instead, an Israeli strike killed his two young children, the latest casualties of months of cross-border violence.

"Like every day... the children were spending their day playing," said Jarkas, 55, a farm worker originally from north Syria's Afrin area but now living in the southern border village of Umm Toot.

"I heard the sound of a strike" and ran towards it, he said. He found his children, Jean, 10, and Mohammed, seven, "drowning in blood".

Lebanese official media said separate Israeli strikes on Tuesday in south Lebanon, including on Umm Toot, killed five Syrians, three of them children, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire at Israel in retaliation.

On Wednesday, the children's bodies, wrapped in what appeared to be bed coverings, were laid out on stretchers as mourners gathered and a sheikh led funerary prayers.

Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant said that the conditions for a deal with Hamas have matured, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is placing obstacles to avoid the loss of the two ministers in the government coalition, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

According to the Israeli Ynet news site, Gallant claimed in closed room talks that if a deal was not signed with Hamas in the next two weeks, the fate of captives in Gaza "will be decided," without providing any additional details.

Two drones were launched against a base in Iraq where forces of the US-led anti-Islamic State group coalition are stationed, security officials said Wednesday.

"An attack using two drones" targeted Ain al-Assad base in Anbar province on Tuesday evening, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

"One drone was shot down outside the base by defence systems, and the second exploded inside the base without causing any injuries or damage," he added.

A senior security official in Baghdad confirmed Tuesday's attack, saying he believed it was meant to "embarrass" the Iraqi government and pressure the ongoing talks on the future of the international coalition in Iraq, with Iran-backed groups demanding a withdrawal.

King Charles on Wednesday said the UK government is committed to "a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state."

Gaza's health ministry said Wednesday at least 38,794 people have been killed in Israel's ongoing air and ground offensive.

The toll includes 81 deaths in 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 89,364 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.

Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least nine Palestinians, according to health officials, while Israeli tanks carried out a limited advance further into Rafah in the enclave's south.

Tanks carried out a raid in the north of the city before retreating, a tactic Israeli forces have used in other areas before mounting deeper incursions. Tanks have operated in most parts of the city since May, although have not gone deep into the northern districts.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.

Gallant made the comments during an overnight call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, his office said.

"IDF operations in Gaza have led to the conditions necessary to achieve an agreement for the return of hostages, which is the highest moral imperative at this time," Gallant claimed, according to the statement.

Hezbollah will target new Israeli settlements if Israel continues to 'target civilians' in Lebanon, the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday.

"If you think about launching war on Lebanon, not a single tank of yours will be spared," Nasrallah said in a speech during the Islamic Ashoura commemoration.

Hezbollah said it launched rounds of "Katyusha rockets" at northern Israel in response to separate Israeli strikes on Tuesday which killed five Syrian civilians, including three children.

The group in separate statements mentioned both "the death of two civilians" in Kfar Tebnit and "the horrible massacre in Umm Toot village" as reasons for the retaliatory fire.

The United Nations children's agency said that "more children are at risk as long as the violence continues."

"The killing of three more children by an airstrike today as they were reportedly playing in front of their home in south Lebanon is horrific," UNICEF said on social media platform X.

Lebanese official media said separate Israeli strikes Tuesday in south Lebanon killed five people including three Syrian children, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire at Israel in retaliation.

"Three Syrian children" were killed "in an enemy raid that targeted farmland in the village of Umm Toot", the National News Agency (NNA) said.

It also said an "enemy" drone strike had targeted a motorcycle on the Kfar Tebnit road elsewhere in south Lebanon, killing two Syrians.

A Lebanese security source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told AFP the two Syrians were "civilians" who worked nearby and had been swimming in the area.

The NNA said that "eyewitnesses reported that the motorbike was carrying two people and that when a number of citizens tried to approach the bike... it was subjected to a second strike".

#عاجل بلدية #البستان تنعى الأطفال الثلاثة الذين قتلوا في الغارة على منزلهم في "#أم_التوت" جنوبي #لبنان pic.twitter.com/Ccvqbj8zzN

— Annahar (@Annahar) July 16, 2024

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it transferred 13 Palestinian prisoners, who were released by Israeli forces on Wednesday, to a hospital in Gaza.

The detainees were released at the Kissufim checkpoint, including an elderly woman, then taken to Al-Aqsa hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

China on Tuesday expressed willingness to facilitate "reconciliation" between rival Palestinian factions, after Fatah said its officials would meet in Beijing with Hamas counterparts.

Islamist Hamas later said it would be attending talks in the Chinese capital at what it called an "expanded factional meeting" this weekend.

"The movement responded with a positive spirit and national responsibility," official Hossam Badran said in a statement.

Hamas was "keen on achieving national unity worthy of our Palestinian people... especially in light of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle," he added, using the militant group's name of its October 7 attack on Israel that set off the Gaza war.