Gaza war: Khan Younis families flee in their thousands as Israel attacks

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British foreign secretary David Lammy reiterated calls for British nationals to leave Lebanon over safety concerns as fears of a wider regional war continue to rise.

In a post on X on Friday evening, Lammy said the UK is continue to use "diplomatic levers to push for de-escalation".

"Further escalation in the Middle East is in no one’s interests. The UK continues to use all diplomatic levers to push for de-escalation. Our message to British nationals in Lebanon is clear – leave now."

Four people were killed by an attack on a building in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to reports.

Gaza's civil defence said it found four bodies at the scene and several wounded people, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Hamas's al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on Friday evening that it mourns the death of commander Samer Mahmoud al-Haj, known as Abu Mahmoud.

Al-Haj was killed by an Israeli strike near Sidon in south Lebanon on Friday and was a senior field commander of Hamas' faction in the Palestinian refugee camp Ain el-Helweh.

Al-Haj was from the Palestinian village of Al-Samiriya in the today's Israeli district of Acre.

The statement said he "rose as a martyr within the battle of the Al-Aqsa flood".

UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was deeply concerned by Israel's decision to revoke the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats dealing with the Palestinian Authority.

"Norway has long played a unique and valued role in supporting peace for Israelis and Palestinians. We urge Israel to reconsider," the FCDO said in a statement on Friday.

On Thursday, Israel revoked the accreditation of the eight Norwegian diplomats.

(Reuters)

The United States has determined that alleged human rights violations by a Israeli Defense Force unit have been "effectively remediated" after reviewing new information provided by Israel, the State Department said on Friday.

Following the determination, the unit involved, the Netzah Yehuda battalion, can continue to receive U.S. security assistance, spokesperson Matthew Miller said in an email. The U.S. had called for a criminal investigation after battalion soldiers were accused of being involved in the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American man. Before receiving new information in April, Washington was reportedly intending to designate the unit under a U.S. law that prohibits military assistance to those committing gross human rights violations. 

(Reuters)

Hamas' armed al-Qassam Brigades pledged allegiance to Hamas' new leader Yahya Sinwar, the group's spokesman, Abu Obaida, said on Friday.

"We announce our full readiness to implement his decisions," Abu Ubaida added in a statement on Telegram.

(Reuters)

The Biden administration will not allow "extremists," including in Israel, to push Gaza ceasefire talks off course, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday and accused Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of making false claims.

Kirby said that Smotrich's claims that a ceasefire deal would be a surrender to Hamas or that hostages should not be exchanged for prisoners are "dead wrong," and said the minister was misleading the Israeli public.

The United States and its allies have been trying to arrange a ceasefire-for-hostages deal for months but have consistently run into obstacles from both Israel and Hamas.

U.S. officials believed the latest proposal is the closest the parties have been to an agreement to free women, sick and elderly hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7 in exchange for at least six weeks of ceasefire.

"We want to get a deal. We believe that it's possible to do that ... But it's going to require some leadership on all sides here and some compromises," Kirby told reporters.

(Reuters)

Some 70,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis in the past day after Israel ordered the area to be evacuated.

UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA said that thousands of families in Gaza are still being displaced in a post on X on Friday.

Families are moving to al-Mawassi which was designated by Israel as a humanitarian zone but has not been exempt from attacks. Aid agencies say the area is overcrowded and lacks sanitation.

Displacement continues for thousands of families across #Gaza. Yesterday, following evacuation orders in the Khan Younis area, an estimated 60,000 - 70,000 people have been forced to flee towards Mawasi.

People in Gaza are exhausted, and they have nowhere to go. #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/rCbL2eAf95

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 9, 2024

Iran is set to carry out an order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to "harshly punish" Israel over the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran, a Revolutionary Guards deputy commander was quoted as saying on Friday by local news agencies.

"The supreme leader's orders regarding the harsh punishment of Israel and revenge for the blood of martyr Ismail Haniyeh are clear and explicit ...and they will be implemented in the best possible way," said Ali Fadavi, cited by Iranian media.

Asked by reporters to respond to the Iranian remarks, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, said the United States was ready to defend Israel with plenty of resources in the region.

"When we hear rhetoric like that we've got to take it seriously, and we do," he said. 

 (Reuters)

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Friday it struck Israel's Dovev Barracks housing soldiers.

In a statement on the Shia militant group's Telegram channel, it said that hit them with "appropriate weapons".

It said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes on villages and sites in south Lebanon.
 

Lebanon's ministry of public health condemned the Israeli artillery attack which hit an ambulance team in Mais al-Jabal in south Lebanon on Friday.

In a statement the ministry said: "Today, the occupation forces targeted a car belonging to al-Risala Association in the town of Mais al-Jabal, while the association’s team was working to accomplish a humanitarian health mission in the area."

It added that there were no casualties, but one doctor was injured by shrapnel.

The al-Rissala relief association is affiliated with the Amal movement, a political ally of Hezbollah dominant in the southern regions.

The Israeli army said its air force killed Samer Mahmoud al-Haj near the city of Sidon in south Lebanon on Friday.

Al-Haj was a senior commander in Hamas based in Palestinian refugee camp Ain el-Helweh near Sidon. Israel said he a military commander who recruited fighters and orchestrated attacks on Israel.

The strike, which hit the vehicle Al-Haj was travelling in, is the first time Israel has struck so close to the Lebanese city since it began tit-for-tat attacks with the Shia militant group Hezbollah.

Palestinian journalist Tamim Muammar was among those killed by Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis, which killed at least seven people, Al Jazeera reported on Friday.

This brings the total number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 7 to at least 167, according to figures by the Government Media Office in Gaza.

A Lebanese security source said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the southern city of Sidon on Friday killed a Hamas security official from the nearby Ain el-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp.

"An Israeli strike targeted a Hamas movement security official from the Ain al-Helweh camp while he was inside his vehicle in the city of Sidon," the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

An AFP correspondent saw emergency personnel pull a charred body from the vehicle while soldiers cordoned off the area

 An Israeli airstrike targeted a car on the edge of Lebanon's port city of Sidon on Friday evening, two security sources told Reuters.

They said it was not immediately clear who had been targeted in the strike. Israel has been carrying out strikes against members of Hezbollah and other armed groups firing rockets across the border from Lebanon.

An Israeli strike Friday killed two Hezbollah fighters near the border, a source close to the Lebanese group and Israel's military said, while drones broadcast anti-Hezbollah messages over south Lebanon.

Hezbollah in separate statements on Friday said two of its fighters were "martyred on the road to Jerusalem", the phrase it uses to refer to fighters killed by Israeli fire.

A source close to the Iran-backed group, requesting anonymity, said the pair were killed "in an Israeli strike in Naqura".

The Israeli army said in a statement that "two Hezbollah terrorists were identified exiting a military structure belonging" to the group in the Naqura area, adding that air forces "eliminated" the operatives.

The United Arab Emirates urged Israel and Hamas to accept an invitation from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US to resume Gaza ceasefire negotiations on August 15, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The UK's foreign secretary called on Friday for Israel and Hamas to "urgently" agree to a ceasefire deal, following a joint statement by the US, Qatar and Egypt calling for negotiations to resume.

"The UK welcomes the tireless efforts of our partners in Qatar, Egypt and the United States," Britain's top diplomat David Lammy said in a statement.

He added that London "fully endorses their joint statement calling for the immediate resumption of ceasefire negotiations and a hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas".

Lammy argued "there can be no more delays, the fighting must stop now" while demanding "all hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas must be released".

"We also need to see the urgent delivery of unfettered aid into Gaza," he noted.

The foreign secretary said that it was in the "long-term interests" of Israelis, Palestinians, and other parties to agree to the deal on the table "urgently".

Israel confirmed late Thursday that it has agreed to resume truce talks on August 15 at the demand of the three mediators, as the regional conflict threatens to intensify.

A doctor in Lebanon has been injured following an Israeli strike on an ambulance in Mais al-Jabal, according to Lebanese news site L'Orient Today.

An international activist was injured by live bullets on Friday by Israeli forces during a peaceful demonstration in the town of Beita, located south of Nablus, medical sources said as cited by Wafa.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that the 40-year-old activist sustained a gunshot wound to the thigh and was transported to hospital for medical treatment.

Israeli forces had raided Beita and dispersed the weekly protest against settlement expansion near Jabal Sabih on the outskirts of the town. 

Israeli strikes have killed at least five Palestinians, including two children, in the al-Mawasi area where displaced people are sheltering, according to Al Jazeera.

Back in December, Israeli troops stormed a home in Gaza City, throwing grenades and firing assault rifles in an attack that killed at least seven people, including a pregnant woman, and left a five-year-old seriously injured, Human Rights Watch has said in a new report calling for a probe of the possible war crime.

"There is no excuse for soldiers storming into a home full of civilians and firing without precaution," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at Human Rights Watch. "They decimated a Palestinian family and orphaned a small child who may never be able to walk again."

Israeli forces stormed a Gaza City home on Dec. 21, 2023, throwing grenades inside and opening fire where a civilian family was sheltering.

The attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two, including a 5-year-old. https://t.co/zaMDBm8uOV pic.twitter.com/SzLd9spTIY

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) August 8, 2024

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, adding to international pressure for a truce deal between Israel and Hamas.

"We need a ceasefire in Gaza now. That's the only way to save lives, restore hope for peace, and secure the return of hostages," von der Leyen wrote on X.

"Thus I strongly support the efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to help achieve the peace and stability the region needs."

UN rights chief Volker Turk was "shocked and appalled" by comments by Israel's finance minister suggesting it might be "justified" to starve the population of Gaza to free hostages, his spokesman said Friday.

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights "condemns these words in the strongest terms, which also incite hatred against innocent civilians," his spokesman Jeremy Laurence told a press conference.

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stoked controversy earlier this week, telling a conference: "No one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages."

"We are bringing in humanitarian aid because we have no choice. We are in a situation that requires international legitimacy to conduct this war," Smotrich said.

Turk's spokesman told reporters that "the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is a war crime.

"This direct and public statement risks inciting other atrocity crimes. Such statements, especially by public officials, must cease immediately, they must be investigated and if found to amount to a crime, must be prosecuted and punished," Laurence said.

EU chief Josep Borrell said the bloc joins Qatar, Egypt and the US in their call for reaching a ceasefire deal with Gaza.

"We reiterate our full support to their mediation to put an end to the unbearable cycle of suffering," he said on X.

Lebanon would struggle to meet even a fraction of its aid needs if full-scale war with Israel erupts, a senior official said, as it seeks increased donor support amid persistent border clashes.

Nasser Yassin, the minister overseeing contingency planning for a wider conflict, told Reuters Lebanon would need $100 million monthly for food, shelter, healthcare and other needs in a worst-case scenario.

"A small fraction, even 10 to 15 percent of that, would be huge for the government. We will need donors to step up," Yassin said.

International aid is already falling short. Lebanon has received only a third of the $74 million sought over the course of the 10-month conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.

"Humanitarian funding in many places has been reduced to a minimal level of just keeping heads above water. Some organizations are even slashing funding for critical life-saving matters," Yassin added.

Lebanon's state, hollowed out by a five-year economic crisis left to fester by ruling elites, struggled to provide basic services even before the current conflict began alongside the Gaza war.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that its navy has new cruise missiles equipped with highly explosive warheads that are undetectable, state media reported.

The announcement by the country's most powerful security organisation coincides with fears of a full-blown Middle East war after Iran vowed to avenge the assassination in Tehran on July 31 of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas.

Iran has blamed Israel, while Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

"In today's world you either have to be powerful to survive, or surrender. There's no middle ground," said the Guards' top commander, Major-General Hossein Salami.

"A large number of cruise missiles have been added to the Guards' navy fleet. These new missiles have capabilities of highly explosive warheads that are undetectable and can cause extensive damage and sink their targets," a Guards statement said.

The Guards' navy also said in a statement that various types of long and medium range missile systems, as well as reconnaissance drones and naval radars, have been added to its fleet.

"These systems are among the most up-to-date anti-surface and sub-surface weapons in the Guards' navy," it said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France 'support' the US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators who urged Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations for a hostage release and ceasefire deal.

"The war in Gaza must stop. This must be clear to everyone," he said on X.

"It is crucial for the people of Gaza, for the hostages and for the stability of the region, which is at stake today," he added.

The war in Gaza must stop.

This must be clear to everyone.

It is crucial for the people of Gaza, for the hostages, and for the stability of the region, which is at stake today.

Full support from France to the American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 9, 2024

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, in talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, called for a swift agreement to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, the Israeli military said on Friday.

"While working to secure Israel, minister Gallant raised the importance of swiftly achieving an agreement that will ensure the return of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza," the military said in a statement, adding the two agreed on "the urgency" of the issue.

Air India has begun issuing notices that it will postpone flights to Israel until the end of October, Israel media is reporting.

The airline had earlier this month announced it was cancelling flights to and from Tel Aviv through August 8.

The United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) estimates that 63 percent of all structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the war.

Around 156,409 structures as destroyed, severely damaged, moderately damaged or possibly damaged, according to findings, based on satellite imagery analyses.

The hardest hit areas in recent months have been Rafah and northern Gaza, said UNOSAT, with 2,300 new structures assessed as damaged in northern Gaza and some 15,030 in Rafah.

The Israeli military said Friday the head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, had arrived in Israel for his second visit this week to assess the security situation amid fears of a region-wide Middle East war.

Israel's army chief Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi and Kurilla, who arrived on Thursday, held a "situational assessment on security and strategic issues, as well as joint preparations in the region, as part of the response to threats in the Middle East," the military said in a statement. Kurilla also visited on Monday.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Friday that a ship had reported being attacked for the fourth time with a missile splashing in the Red Sea close to it 45 nautical miles south of Yemen's Mokha.

The European Union announced a €43 million contribution to assist the Palestinian Authority in paying salaries and pensions for employees and retirees in the West Bank. 

The bloc said that the €43 million is part of an emergency short-term financial support package aimed at addressing the immediate financial needs of the Palestinian Authority. This support targets civil service employees, primarily in the health and education sectors in the West Bank, as well as retirees.

Two people have been killed by an Israeli drone strike in the town of Naqoura, southern Lebanon, the country's Ministry of Public Health said, as confirmed by Al Jazeera.

The incident is the latest n tensions between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, following the killing of Fuad Shukr in Beirut last week.

At least eight Palestinians were killed and several others injured in a series of overnight Israeli airstrikes across the war-hit Gaza Strip.

The targeted areas included the Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps, in the central area of the enclave, as well as the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza.

Among those killed were three people following a strike belonging to the Matar family in Nuseirat, the Palestinian official media agency Wafa said.

Three suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthis targeted a ship in the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait linking the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, including one that saw private security guards shoot and destroy a bomb-loaded drone boat, authorities said on Friday.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the assaults, reports said.

In the first attack, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded close to the ship Thursday, according to the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Two smaller craft, with men aboard wearing white and yellow raincoats, launched the RPG, the UKMTO said.

The second attack came early Friday, with a missile "exploding in close proximity to the vessel,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel and crew are reported to be safe".

The third attack with the drone boat, where private security guards on board “opened fire and (were) able to successfully destroy the vehicle, private security firm Ambrey said.