Israel strikes kill Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank tensions ongoing

The live blog is now over and will be back at 9am BST. You can read more of The New Arab's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza here.

The spokesperson for the US State Department Matthew Miller has called the Israeli military's shooting of a World Food Programme vehicle in Gaza "deeply troubling".

"Humanitarian workers are there to help innocent civilians, and Israel must ensure they are protected," he said in a post on X. 

The Israeli Defense Forces shooting of a @WFP vehicle in Gaza is a deeply troubling incident. Humanitarian workers are there to help innocent civilians, and Israel must ensure they are protected.

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) August 30, 2024

Kamala Harris said Thursday in a CNN interview that she would not change US President Joe Biden's policy on supplying Israel with arms for its war in Gaza if elected in November.

"No," the Democratic nominee and vice president said when asked if she would change course and withhold weapons to Israel, while adding that it was time for a ceasefire and hostage deal and to "end this war."

The Israeli military says it conducted airstrikes on south Lebanon targeting Hezbollah missile launchers. The military added that following the strikes, rockets were fired into Israel and struck and area near Migdal Tefen.

Joyce Msuya, acting head of the UN's humanitarian office (OCHA), said that "we cannot plan more than 24 hours in advance because we struggle to know what supplies we will have, when we will have them or where we will be able to deliver."

"Civilians are hungry. They are thirsty. They are sick. They are homeless. They have been pushed beyond... what any human being should bear," she told the Security Council.

Msuya's comments came after the UN had to halt the movement of aid and aid workers within Gaza on Monday due to a new Israeli evacuation order for the Deir al-Balah area, which had become a hub for its workers.

"More than 88 percent of Gaza's territory has come under an (Israeli) order to evacuate at some point," Msuya said, adding that civilians, "in a state of limbo," were being forced into an area equivalent to just 11 percent of the Gaza Strip.

"The evacuation orders appear to defy the requirements of international humanitarian law," she added.

"What we have witnessed over the past 11 months... calls into question the world's commitment to the international legal order that was designed to prevent these tragedies," Msuya said.

"It forces us to ask: what has become of our basic sense of humanity?"

Calling on the Security Council and wider international community to use its leverage to end the war, Msuya urged the release of hostages and "a sustained ceasefire in Gaza."

The Palestine Red Crescent Society released footage from today showing the organisation transporting three killed and 11 wounded Palestinians after being targeted by Israel in Khan Younis.

🚨A video shows the work of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) crews today, as they transported three martyrs and 11 injured individuals after Israeli occupation forces targeted tents of displaced people in Al-Amal neighborhood park in #KhanYunis.
📷Filmed by volunteer:… pic.twitter.com/YFIfxagPvc

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) August 29, 2024

After 48 hours Israeli forces have withdrawn from the city of Tulkarm and its Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

The invasion of the city and the camp saw Israeli forces kill four Palestinians and caused destruction to property and infrastructure. 

World Health Organisation Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the UN's polio vaccination campaign in Gaza is set to begin on Sunday, 1 September after Israel agreed to pauses in the fighting to allow for the campaign to begin.

"We welcome the commitment to humanitarian pauses in specific areas, and suspension of evacuation orders for the implementation of the campaign," he said. 

He added that "the only lasting medicine is peace. The only way to fully protect all the children of Gaza is a ceasefire."

A #polio vaccination campaign in #Gaza is planned to begin on 1 September.

We welcome the commitment to humanitarian pauses in specific areas, and suspension of evacuation orders for the implementation of the campaign.

But the only lasting medicine is peace. The only way to… pic.twitter.com/J52cbVTAoe

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 29, 2024

Israel's interior minister, Moshe Arbel, has written to the countries attorney general to set up a commission of inquiry into 7 October should be set up "as soon as possible," Haaretz reported.

In the letter Arbel expressed concern over the civilian investigation committee which could be committing offenses over information security and obstruction of justice.

Israel told the United States that an initial review found that shots were fired at a clearly marked World Food Programme (WFP) vehicle in the Gaza Strip after a "communication error" between Israeli military units, the deputy US envoy to the United Nations said on Thursday.

"We have urged them to immediately rectify the issues within their system," deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza. "Israel must not only take ownership for its mistakes, but also take concrete actions to ensure the IDF does not fire on UN personnel again."

(Reuters)

Yemen's Houthis have released a video on X showing the boarding and detonation of explosions on the ship MV Sounion that was abandoned in the Red Sea after Houthi's attacked the oil tanker last week. 

مشاهد اقتحام وإحراق السفينة اليونانية (SOUNION) في البحر الأحمر والتي قامت الشركة المالكة لها بانتهاك قرار حظر الدخول إلى موانئ فلسطين المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/yGKgUNaIuh

— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) August 29, 2024

Israeli forces have again stormed the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

As well as storming the camp with armoured vehicles, Israeli forces have deployed sniper teams and surveillance aircraft are reportedly over the camp.

The German Foreign Ministry published a video on X detailing a statement of concern on deteriorating situation in the Israeli occupied West Bank.

"We are concerned about the increasing violence, the high number of civilians killed, and the extent of rights violations," the a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The spokesperson reiterated that "Israel is an occupying force in the West Bank. This means that according to the Geneva Conventions, Israel is obliged to maintain law and order, and in the long term, to end the occupation as soon as possible."

We are very concerned about the situation in the #WestBank. Yesterday‘s statement: ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/yTcEGgGsvx

— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) August 29, 2024

Hamas welcomes a UN request for a humanitarian pause in the war in Gaza to implement a polio vaccination campaign, Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters on Thursday, adding that the group is ready to cooperate with international organisations.

(Reuters)

Israel's defense minister on Thursday called for the expansion of the stated goals of the war in Gaza to include enabling residents to return to communities in northern Israel that have been evacuated due to attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Our mission on the northern front is clear - to ensure the safe return of northern communities to their homes. In order to achieve this goal, we must expand the goals of the war, and include the safe return of Israel’s northern residents to their homes," said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

"This will not diminish our absolute commitment to dismantling Hamas and returning the hostages," Gallant added, according to a statement from his office.

(Reuters)

Israel has agreed to at least three days of "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza to allow UN health officials to administer polio vaccinations in the territory, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

"The way we discussed and agreed, the campaign will start on the first of September, in central Gaza, for three days, and there will be a humanitarian pause during the vaccination," said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency's representative for Palestinian territories.

The British government said on Thursday it had imposed a travel ban on Mustafa Ayash, who it sanctioned earlier this year for promoting terrorism, and suspected Hezbollah financier Nazem Ahmad.

The pair, who were already subject to asset freezes under domestic counter-terrorism powers, now cannot enter Britain, it said.

"The travel bans are a part of continued efforts to protect the integrity of the UK economy from terrorist financing threats," the British government said in a statement.

Ayash was sanctioned in March this year for providing financial support to a media network which the government said supported the Palestinian Hamas militant group and promotes terrorism.

Britain banned Hamas in 2021 and under the Terrorism Act, anyone expressing support for the group, flying its flag or arranging meetings for the organisation is in breach of the law.

Britain sanctioned Ahmad in April 2023 on suspicion of financing Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. He was also sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019.

He has an extensive art collection in the UK and conducts business with multiple UK-based artists, art galleries and auction houses, according to a 2023 statement by the British government.

UK MP Jeremy Corbyn has called for an end to arms sales to Israel following the violent raids in the West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday.

"Israel knows it can commit war crimes with impunity. That is why it has launched its largest assault on the West Bank since 2002. We are witnessing the total erasure of Palestine - and our government is shamefully complicit," he said on X.

"End all arms sales to Israel, now."

Israel knows it can commit war crimes with impunity.

That is why it has launched its largest assault on the West Bank since 2002.

We are witnessing the total erasure of Palestine - and our government is shamefully complicit.

End all arms sales to Israel, now.

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) August 29, 2024

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has voiced concerns over Israel's military assault in the West Bank on Wednesday, decrying the fact that health care workers are still informing the NGO that they are facing huge difficulties in treating and accessing patients.

The situation in the camp is "extremely bad; the roads are a disaster, and the water and sewage networks are nearly completely destroyed," they said.

In Tulkarem camp some people are trapped in their homes with limited infrastructure and there are reports of people being shot at by the Israeli forces when they tried to leave their homes. Others have been permitted to leave the camp.

"Medical volunteers are having a very hard time moving around Tulkarem camp, and are struggling to reach some houses that are in need of medical assistance," they added.

The US Navy says it currently has no aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean as conflicts continue to ravage the Middle East, Business Insider reported on Thursday.

The absence has raised concerns in the backdrop of tensions in the region, notably the war in Gaza and Israel's cross-border conflict with Hezbollah.

Israel has it has killed 12 Palestinian fighters during its West Bank raids, including the five Thursday morning killed inside a mosque in Tulkare, the army said.

At least 10 "suspects" were arrested across Jenin and Tulkarem in the past 24 hours, it added.

Four pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested in the University of Michigan on Wednesday, local media said.

The Detroit Free Press reported that the incident occurred in the afternoon at the university's Festifall event, where at least 50 activists had gathered.

Those arrested were arrested were not students. Three were unaffiliated with the university while the fourth was a temporary employee.

Islamic Relief said it condemns the actions of the Israeli military over the last two days in what has been the largest attack on the occupied West Bank in 20 years, calling it a violation of international humanitarian law.

In a statement to The New Arab, the UK-based charity said "the ongoing Israeli siege in Gaza, taken together with these attacks on the West Bank and airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, signal an alarming expansion of the inhumane violence we have seen in Gaza and across the region".

"As humanitarian actors we call for an end to Israel's bombardment and attacks in Gaza, the illegally occupied West Bank, and Lebanon. The international community is obliged to step up pressure on Israel to prevent the further escalation of attacks and the ongoing collective punishment of civilians."

Israeli forces are carrying out deadly air strikes in Khan Younis, killing at least two and injuring ten, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

PRCS #AlAmalHospital received two martyrs and ten injured individuals, while the #Kuwaiti_Field_Hospital, managed by the PRCS’s teams, also treated several injuries resulting from the Israeli occupation forces targeting a gathering of displaced people in the Al-Amal neighborhood…

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) August 29, 2024

Hezbollah, in a statement posted on Telegram, said that it targeted the headquarters of the 210th Golan Division of the Israeli army in the Nafah barracks with "squadrons of suicide drones".

It said that this attack was in retaliation for recent assassinations of Hezbollah personnel.

Ireland’s foreign minister says his country will back EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s recommendation to impose sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers, as well as on settler organizations in the West Bank "who are facilitating [the] expansion of settlements".

Speaking at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Micheál Martin said Israel is targeting Palestinian people as a whole and not just Hamas with its military campaign in Gaza, adding that he wants the European Union to review its ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

"This is a war against Palestinians, not just against Hamas. The level of civilian casualties and dead is unconscionable," he said. "It’s a war on the population. No point in trying to fudge this".

He says a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice that Israel’s military control of Gaza and the West Bank is illegal obliges the EU to take action.

"It cannot be business as usual," Martin tells reporters. "It is very clear to us that international humanitarian law has been broken."

Israeli forces have detained 25 Palestinians, including freed prisoners across the West Bank amid its intensified raid, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said.

The prisoners' institutions said the arrests were accompanied by attacks on detainees and their families, in addition to vandalism and destruction of citizens' homes.

More than 10,300 Palestinians in the West Bank have been detained since Israel's war on Gaza on October 7.

Four Palestinians were killed on Thursday in an Israeli bombing of east Rafah's Al-Mashrou' area, the Wafa news agency said, citing sources.

The sources said that many victims are still trapped under rubble from the strike, with rescuers "unable to reach them".

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced the death of its commander in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem Thursday, where the Israeli military said it had "eliminated" five militants, including Muhammad Jabber, also known as Abu Shujaa.

"Abu Shujaa, commander of the Tulkarem Brigade of the Al-Quds Brigades," the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in the refugee camps in the north of the occupied West Bank, "died along with several brothers of his brigade after a heroic battle against the soldiers of the (Israeli) occupation", the group said in a statement.

Families of Israeli captives held in Gaza stormed the war-hit territory’s border fence on Thursday to demand a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

In a statement on X, a forum for the hostages’ families said they breached the border fence, using loudspeakers to cry out to the hostages.

"The families in their great pain breached the fence to Gaza and ran towards the Gaza Strip to get close to their loved ones as possible," the forum said.

Families of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza breached the border fence with the Strip and ran toward their loved ones while calling “we are coming to save you.” One family member: “If the government won’t get them out, we will”. pic.twitter.com/YTVuzCt9Wp

— Ariel Oseran (@ariel_oseran) August 29, 2024

At least 40,602 Palestinians have been killed and 93,855 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the enclave's health authorities said on Thursday.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday he has started the process of asking member states if they want to impose sanctions on "some Israeli ministers".

"I initiated the procedure to ask the member states if they consider (it) appropriate to include in our list of sanctions some Israeli ministers (who) have been launching unacceptable hate messages against the Palestinians, and proposing things that clearly go against international law," he told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.

He did not name any of the Israeli ministers to whom he was referring.

Nine Palestinians, most of them children and women, were killed and others were injured at dawn on Thursday in different parts of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian media said/

At least eight people, including a girl, were killed and three others seriously injured when Israeli aircraft bombed a residential building near Al-Amal Hotel west of Gaza City.

Another Palestinian was killed and others were injured when forces bombed a house in Al-Shati refugee camp.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) militia grouping has claimed it carried out a drone attack on the Alon Tavor power station in the Israeli city of Haifa.

The IRI said in a Telegram statement early today that the attack was carried out "in support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres the usurper entity [Israel] commits against civilians".

The group also posted footage of the purported launching of the drone attack.

IRI’s recent attacks come after some weeks of no announced activities by the militia on its Telegram channel.

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

Most of the attacks go unreported by the Israeli army and media, though more recently the army has on occasion reported that it has intercepted projectiles "from the east".

Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq has lashed out after reports said Israel had suggested allocating specific areas inside the Gaza Strip to allow for vaccinations against polio.

Rishq said in remarks carried by the group’s Telegram channel last night that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position "was not an approval of a humanitarian truce called for by the UN and international organisations, but rather a new manipulation and blatant evasion to continue the war of genocide and systematic killing against our people, and to perpetuate the slow death of Gaza's children".

Israeli media reported late on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to a demand by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for lulls in attacks in Gaza to allow for polio vaccination there. 

On 16 August, Hamas said it supported a UN request for a seven-day truce to vaccinate thousands of children against the polio virus, which was recently detected in sewage samples in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Jenin, amid intensified raids on the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, said 32-year-old Mohammad Bassam Arabi succumbed to his serious injury after being shot in the eastern neighborhood of the city, adding that its crews transferred his body to Al-Razi Hospital.

The Israeli military said its forces killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday in a second day of violent raids in the occupied territory."counter-terrorism" operations that have killed 14 in total.

The military called the raids "counter-terrorism" operations and said the killed Palestinians were militants.