Children among those killed by Israeli army in Bureij, Gaza City attacks intensify

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

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that in the last 24 hours US forces had destroyed a Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) in Houthi controlled Yemen.

"It was determined the UAV presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. This action was taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure," CENTCOM said in a post on X. 

July 9 U.S. Central Command Update

In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen.

It was determined the UAV presented an imminent threat to U.S.,… pic.twitter.com/DQi6OtkH6J

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 10, 2024

The Israeli military has said that it is "investigating" a strike that killed at least 29 people at a school near the city of Khan Younis. 

The military said that a strike using "precision weapons" killed a member of Hamas' military wing.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that although the service is getting dozens of distress calls from Gaza City, PRCS ambulances are "unable to reach them due to the danger of the targeted areas and the intensity of the bombardment".

Field reports from Gaza Governorate indicate that the situation for residents is extremely dire. The occupation forces continue to target residential blocks and displace citizens from their homes and shelters.

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 9, 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, congratulating him on his new appointment and discussing Israel's war on Gaza.

The State Department said that the two "discussed ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of the hostages, and a significant increase in humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza."

"They also discussed work to establish governance, security, and reconstruction in Gaza in the post-conflict period in a way that builds lasting peace and security," the statement added.

The Israeli army announced it had struck sites in south Lebanon after a barrage of missiles fired by Hezbollah into the Israeli occupied Golan Heights killed two people. 

This includes positions in the Qabrikh district of south Lebanon, as well as sites in Kfar Kila.

The UN's Special Rapporteur on the right to housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal asked "is there any humanity left?" in a post on X, a question he posed after listing a number of Gaza's key facilities have been destroyed, including its housing, food systems and healthcare. 

We are now seeing famine across the whole of Gaza. All houses destroyed, food systems destroyed and healthcare destroyed. And kids are dying. Is there any humanity left? https://t.co/jjI5ZHAvbA

— UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing (@adequatehousing) July 9, 2024

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday that they targeted the Maersk Sentosa ship in the Arabian sea with several ballistic missiles, as well as two other ships, including one in the Gulf of Aden.

(Reuters)

The pier built by the US military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled Wednesday to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently, several US officials said. It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians.

The officials said the goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up in Cyprus and on the floating dock offshore and get it to the secure area on the beach in Gaza. Once that has been done, the Army will dismantle the pier and depart. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out.

US troops removed the pier on June 28 because of bad weather and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel. But distribution of the aid had already stopped due to the security concerns.

Israeli police said two people were killed Tuesday by rocket fire in the Golan Heights, after the military said 40 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into the annexed territory.

"The deaths of a man and a woman were determined on the spot by medical teams," police said in a statement.

Twenty-nine Palestinians were killed by an Israeli strike that hit tents housing displaced families outside a school in the town of Abassan east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Tuesday, the director of the Gaza government media office told Reuters.

(Reuters)

Two people were critically injured when Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the Golan Heights on Tuesday, Israeli's ambulance service said, as the Lebanese militant group retaliated after a former bodyguard of its leader was killed in an Israeli strike.

Israel's ambulance service said in a statement that paramedics had reported two casualties "in critical condition" after red alert sirens went off in the Israeli-occupied Golan. Israel's military did not confirm the casualties.

(Reuters)

Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured on Tuesday by an Israeli airstrike that hit tents housing displaced families outside a school in Abassan in the southern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

(Reuters)

Israeli forces killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said its forces had fired on Palestinians who were hurling rocks at their vehicles.

The boy, named as Ghassan Gharib Zahran, was shot in the town of Deir Abu Mash'al in the occupied West Bank. The official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that Israeli forces opened fire on a number of children, shooting and critically wounding Zahran.

He was transferred to the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah where he succumbed to his wounds shortly after.

The Israeli military said in a statement a number of Palestinians "hurled rocks at Israeli vehicles adjacent to the area of Deir Abu Masha'al. Israeli security forces at the scene responded by firing toward the terrorists. As a result, one of the terrorists was hit."

Egyptian media is saying that that the country's head of intelligence and the director of the CIA will attend a meeting in Doha on ceasefire negotiations, Cairo media confirmed. 

Brazil has put into effect a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority that has been waiting for ratification for more than decade, in a show of support for the Palestinian people.

"The agreement is a concrete contribution to an economically viable Palestinian state, which can live peacefully and harmoniously with its neighbors," Brazil's foreign ministry said on Monday in a statement.

It said Brazil, which recognises a Palestinian state and allowed a Palestinian embassy to be built in the Brazilian capital in 2010, ratified the agreement on Friday between the Mercosur trade bloc of South America and the Palestinian Authority that had been signed in 2011.

Palestinian ambassador in Brasilia, Ibrahim Al Zeben, called Brazil's decision "courageous, supportive and timely."

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approved a plan on Tuesday to start drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, a move likely to further strain relations within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fractious right-wing coalition.

His government relies on two ultra-Orthodox parties that regard conscription exemptions as key to keeping their constituents in religious seminaries and out of a melting-pot army that might test their traditional customs.

Their political leaders are fiercely opposed to conscription at a time when Israel's army is seeking to bolster its ranks amid the nine-month-old war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

After discussions with top military officials, Gallant approved their recommendations for a so-called first call-up of ultra-Orthodox men into the military over the coming month, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The order is for an initial screening and evaluation to determine potential recruits, it said. Initial call-ups are sent to Israelis when they are over 16 years old and they usually begin military service at the age of 18.

Israelis are bound by law to serve in the military for 24-32 months. Members of Israel's 21 percent Arab minority are mostly exempt, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students have also been largely exempt for decades.

But Israel's Supreme Court last month ruled that the state must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students into the military.

The long-time military waiver for the ultra-Orthodox has sparked protests in recent months by Israelis angry that the risk of fighting in Gaza is not being equally shared. For their part, ultra-Orthodox protesters have blocked roads under the banner "death before conscription".

An Israeli strike in Syria on Tuesday killed a former personal bodyguard of Hezbollah leader, an official with the Lebanese militant group said.

The news comes hours after an Israeli drone strike on a car in Syria near the Syria-Lebanon border was reported by a war monitor and by pro-government radio Sham FM. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The Britain-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two members of Hezbollah were in the car were killed in the strike, while a Syrian driver is critically wounded. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or from the Israeli military.

Hezbollah later identified the militant as Yasser Nemr Qranbish, though it did not disclose the details of his death as they normally do with combatants who aren’t in leadership roles.

Israeli extremists carried out a raid and performed Talmudic prayers at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, under Knesset member Yehuda Glick on Tuesday, Palestinian media reported.

The actions were carried out amid tight protection from the Israeli police.

Israeli forces launched an attack on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera is reporting.

At least nine people were killed, including five children. 

Israeli bombs targeted a gathering of civilians near the Abu Rasas roundabout in the camp, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

War monitor says two killed in Israeli strike on Hezbollah vehicle in Syria.

More information to come...

UN rights experts on Tuesday accused Israel of carrying out a "targeted starvation campaign" that has resulted in the deaths of children in Gaza.

"We declare that Israel's intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza," 10 independent United Nations experts said in a statement.

The UN has not officially declared a famine in the Gaza Strip.

But the experts, including the UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri, insisted there was no denying famine was under way.

"Thirty-four Palestinians have died from malnutrition since 7 October, the majority being children," said the experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday at least 38,243 people have been killed in the war waged by Israel in the Palestinian enclave.

The toll includes at least 50 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said. It added that 88,033 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed on Tuesday in Cairo efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza with US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

 The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Tuesday that their all medical points and emergency clinics in Gaza are out of service.

The PRCS said that this happened due to Israeli forces' eviction measures in various areas in Gaza, where medical points and clinics are located.

The Syrian defence ministry said an Israeli strike caused damage but no casualties near the Mediterranean coastal city of Baniyas early on Tuesday.

"At approximately 12:20 am (2120 GMT)... the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea... targeting a site near the city of Baniyas," the defence ministry said.

It was the third such attack in the Baniyas area this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The British-based war monitor said "two Israeli missiles targeted at least two buildings, one of which belonged to an air defence battalion".

It said Iranian military advisers were based in the area, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

The Gaza's government office said that Israel has been blocking aid from entering the war-hit enclave for at least 64 days, in a new statement on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera.

"The [Israeli] occupation’s prevention of the entry of aid threatens to increase the number of deaths from hunger, especially among children," the office has said in a statement.

The United Nations protested on Tuesday over the latest mass evacuation orders issued by Israel in Gaza as the army said it had killed dozens of militants in "close-quarters combat" in its latest offensive in Gaza City.

Israel extended its evacuation warning to cover most of Gaza's main city on Monday and intense fighting erupted.

Israel has now issued three evacuation orders for Gaza City and one for the south of the Palestinian territory since June 27 in a new stepping up of its military operations. The UN says tens of thousands of civilians have fled.

Gaza City residents reported "explosions and numerous gun battles" and helicopter strikes through the night in southwestern neighbourhoods.

Residents said civilians were still leaving the city and many of the displaced said they had already moved from one evacuation zone only to find their new place of refuge had become a target too.

The UN Human Rights Office said it was "appalled" at new orders to civilians, "many of whom have been forcibly displaced multiple times, to evacuate to areas where IDF military operations are ongoing and where civilians continue to be killed and injured".

The office said civilians told to head west out of central Gaza City on Monday were caught up in new fighting as the Israeli army "intensified its strikes in the south and west of Gaza City, targeting the very areas where they had instructed people to move to".

The captain of a merchant ship reported an explosion close to the vessel some 180 nautical miles (333 kilometres) east of Yemen's Nishtun, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in an advisory note on Tuesday.

UKMTO added that the vessel and its crew are safe.

The US president met with Liat Beinin Atzili, an Israeli American who was released by Hamas as part of a captive exchange deal in November, at the White House on Monday.

Biden stated he promised Atzili he would continue to work to "secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas," as top US and Israeli officials were reportedly due in Doha to continue mediated truce talks on Tuesday.

Israel's military said on Tuesday it deployed a fighter jet to intercept what it described as a "suspicious aerial target" that was approaching southern Israel from the east.

The military, in a statement, said the target did not cross into Israeli territory.

The handcuffed bodies of three Palestinian men freed from Israeli custody have been found near Gaza's border with Israel, and an uncle of one of them and a witness said they had been attacked by Israeli forces shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen, an uncle of one of the detainees, Kamel Ghabayen, said he set out at 5 a.m. on Sunday looking for his nephew following his arrest by Israeli forces on Saturday.

"I found him left on the ground along with the other two martyrs. They were without clothes, and their hands had plastic cuffs put on them by the Israeli army," Ghabayen said.

The bodies were found near the Israeli border fence on Sunday in the vicinity of the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, he said.

According to the Wafa news agency, Israel has killed at least 16 Palestinian civilians and injured dozens more across Gaza.

Medical sources reported to Wafa that seven people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

In another incident, six individuals were killed in a house on al-Jalaa Street near al-Ghafri Junction in northern Gaza City. An infant was found alive under the rubble.

In the Lababidi area of northern Gaza City, three people were killed and three others were injured.

Rescue efforts on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City led to the rescue of a child and several injured individuals from a bombed house.

Additionally, the western areas of the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in southwestern Gaza City have been targeted by Israeli artillery and gunfire from Apache helicopters