At least 15 killed in Israeli bombing of two Gaza schools

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

Eight people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced that the US has conducted strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen.

In a post on X CENTCOM said that US forces had "destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles and one Houthi ground control station in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen."

"Additionally, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed one Houthi uncrewed surface vessel in the Red Sea", the statement added.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin phoned Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday and discussed the US steps in the Middle East to defend Israel and a Gaza ceasefire, Austin said on social media platform X.

"The U.S. F-22 Raptors that arrived in the region today represent one of many efforts to deter aggression, defend Israel and protect U.S. forces in the region," Austin posted.

He added: "I also stressed the importance of concluding a ceasefire deal in Gaza that releases the hostages." 

(Reuters)

Iran would face "significant" consequences if it decides to attack Israel, an escalation that would also threaten any hopes of a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, a senior US administration official said on Thursday.

Regional tensions have increased following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tehran a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

(Reuters)

Israel has agreed to resume Gaza ceasefire talks on 15 August at the demand of US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday.

"Following the proposal of the United States and mediators, Israel will on August 15 send a delegation of negotiators to the agreed place to conclude the details of implementing a deal," the office said in a statement.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get a ceasefire deal "for the return of all the hostages", and thanked the US, Egypt and Qatar for calling on the Israeli government and Hamas to continue negotiations.

Qatari, Egyptian and US leaders called on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent talks on 15 August either in Doha or Cairo to bridge all remaining gaps in the proposed Gaza ceasefire agreement and start implementing it without any delay, the three countries said in a joint statement on Thursday.

"It is the time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release hostages and prisoners," the statement added.

(Reuters)

United Airlines said on Wednesday it has suspended its flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future and plans to resume them when it is safe for its customers and crew.

Many airlines globally are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace while also calling off flights to Israel and Lebanon amid growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

(Reuters)

Four military personnel were wounded in an Israeli air "aggression" targeting Syria's central region, the Syrian state media reported on Thursday.

The Israeli air force has targeted the towns of Aita al-Shaab and Hanawiyeh in south Lebanon. According to Lebanese news outlet Al-Akhbar, the strike on Hanawiyah caused casualties. 

A ship's captain reported an attack from two small crafts 45 nautical miles south of Yemen's Mokha, with a rocket-propelled grenade exploding near the vessel, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday.

The vessel and crew are safe and the ship is proceeding to its next port of call, the agency said.

The two small boats, white and black in colour, each had four people on board who were reported to be wearing what the agency said were white and yellow raincoats.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that Israel would fight Hezbollah "with all its might" if the Lebanese armed group continued its "aggression" across the border.

"We will not allow the Hezbollah militia to destabilise the border and the region. If Hezbollah continues its aggression, Israel will fight it, with all its might," Gallant said in a message addressed to the people of Lebanon, according to a statement from his office.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting a number of explosions at military warehouses near the Shayrat Airport in Homs, Syria, adding that the source of the explosions are likely because of Israeli airstrikes.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Thursday criticised Israel's "unwarranted" move to revoke the diplomatic status of Norway's envoys to the Palestinian Authority.

"I strongly condemn this unwarranted decision, which contradicts the spirit of Oslo Accords and disproportionately disrupts the normal relations and cooperation with the Palestinian Authority," Borrell said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a US official as saying the US has warned Iran of "serious risk of consequences for Iran’s economy and the stability of its newly elected government" if it embarks on a significant retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July.

The unnamed official also told the WSJ that the US is unsure of when a retaliation will take place, saying "last time we got more of a heads up, and this time people are making their best guesses".

US Central Command announced the arrival of an unspecified number of F-22 Raptors as the US boosts its military presence in the region in preparation for an expected Iranian retaliation to the assassination of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July. 

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility Aug. 8 as part of U.S. force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies. pic.twitter.com/BuuzbUHu9s

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 8, 2024

The United States on Thursday criticised ally Israel for revoking the diplomatic status of Norwegian envoys to the Palestinian Authority, saying Oslo has played an important role in the Middle East.

"We don't think steps to prevent them from playing that role are particularly helpful," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday that it had received a report of an incident 45 nautical miles south of Yemen's Mokha.

Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas. 

(Reuters)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani appealed Thursday for greater international efforts to stop the Middle East conflict from escalating.

The joint appeal came as the emir, whose country has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, made a brief visit to Ankara to discuss the crisis after last week's killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel.

"President Erdogan said Israel is trying to increase tension in the region with its attacks on Palestinian territory and on Lebanon, and that the international community had to take effective measures to end the Israeli aggression, which has intensified in recent days," said a statement released by Erdogan's office.

Until 7 October, when Hamas launched its attack on Israel, Haniyeh divided his time between Qatar and Turkey.

Erdogan's statement added that with the killing of the Hamas leader "Israel has once more demonstrated it has no intention of (obtaining) a ceasefire".

The Mediterranean island of Cyprus is on standby to assist in the evacuation of Europeans and third-country nationals if conflict in the Middle East deepens, officials said on Thursday.

The European Union's easternmost state, Cyprus has over the past several decades been a sanctuary for thousands escaping war in the volatile region.

Israel's antagonism with Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement have fanned fears of a broader conflict in a region already on edge amid 10 months of war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

"We are ready, we have activated a specific plan, ESTIA, which has been tried and tested," Cyprus' deputy government spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou said.

"In the event we are asked to assist other countries who may be moving their nationals from the crisis area home, we are in a position to host them for a few days until they are repatriated," he said.

Antoniou told Reuters close to 10 countries had made inquiries on the scheme, but that there had been no specific formal request. If a mass evacuation plan does transpire it would largely be by air, he said.

"We have the capacity, the infrastructure," he said.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to avoid escalation in the Middle East during a call, the government said in a statement on Thursday.

During the talks, Meloni "emphasized the need to prevent the expansion of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, including with reference to Lebanon, urging her counterpart to avoid further escalation and to reopen the path to dialogue," the Italian prime minister's office said.

(Reuters)

Iran accused Israel on Thursday of wanting to spread war in the Middle East, as diplomatic efforts sought a regional de-escalation following the killings of Tehran-allied militant leaders.

Ali Bagheri, Iran's acting foreign minister, told AFP that Israel had committed "a strategic mistake" by killing Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week - hours after the assassination in Beirut of Hezbollah's military chief Fuad Shukr.

Israel seeks "to expand tension, war and conflict to other countries", but has neither "the capacity nor the strength" to fight Iran, Bagheri said.

Although Israel has not admitted to killing Haniyeh, Iran and its allies have vowed to retaliate, setting the region on edge as the war on Gaza raged on into its 10th month.

Norway said Thursday it had summoned an Israeli embassy official over Israel's decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Norwegian envoys to the Palestinian Authority.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said he was "surprised" by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz's announcement earlier Thursday.

"A short while ago, I summoned Israel's representative to Norway and met her at the foreign ministry to protest against this decision," Barth Eide told journalists.

The Israeli foreign ministry said it was revoking the diplomatic status of "eight Norwegian diplomats".

Vice President Kamala Harris did not agree to discuss imposing an arms embargo on Israel during an exchange with pro-Palestinian activists who are pushing for changes to US policy toward its ally over the war on Gaza, an aide said on Thursday.

The Uncommitted National Movement had said late on Wednesday that Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, had "shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo" during the interaction while campaigning in Detroit, the aide said.

The aide, who spoke anonymously, said Harris was unwilling to discuss an arms embargo. But a campaign spokesperson said the vice president did tell members of the Muslim and Palestinian community she would continue to engage with them on Israel's war which local officials say has killed nearly 40,000 people.

"The vice president has been clear: She will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. The vice president is focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table," the campaign spokesperson said.

(Reuters)

Yemen's Houthis will coordinate with other members of the "Axis of Resistance" in any joint operation, the group's leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday, using the name that Iran and its regional allies use for groups aligned with Tehran.

He said any decision to respond to Israeli attacks would be made by the Axis as a whole.

(Reuters)

The Israeli military said on Thursday it had struck Hamas command centres embedded in the areas of two schools in the Gaza Strip, which they claim were used to carry out attacks against Israeli troops.

"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, surveillance, and additional intelligence," the military said.

"The school compounds were used by Hamas terrorists and commanders as command-and-control centres, from which they planned and carried out attacks against Israel Defence Forces troops and the state of Israel," it said. 

(Reuters)

Twelve people were killed in Israeli strikes on two schools in eastern Gaza, the Palestinian civil defence service said on Thursday.

(Reuters)

Israeli forces stepped up strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, Palestinian medics said, as Israel continues its war on Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza's Al-Bureij camp, killing at least 15 people, and the nearby Al-Nuseirat camp, killed four, medics said. Nuseirat and Bureij are among the densely populated enclave's eight historic camps and are seen by Israel as strongholds of armed militants.

Israeli aircraft also bombed a house in the heart of Gaza City in the north, killing five Palestinians, while another airstrike in the southern city of Khan Younis killed one person and wounded others, according to medics.

Israel committed a costly "strategic mistake" with its killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, Iran's acting foreign minister told AFP in an interview on Thursday.

"The act that the Zionists carried out in Tehran was a strategic mistake because it will cost them gravely," Ali Bagheri said, accused Israel of wanting "to expand tension, war and conflict to other countries."

He added that Israel was "in position" to wage war against Iran.

Image credit: [ALEX HALADA/AFP/Getty]

 Italy's ITA Airways further extended a suspension of its flights to and from Tel Aviv until Aug. 10 "due to the geopolitical developments in the Middle East and to ensure the safety of its passengers and crews," the company said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the airline had extended the interruption of its connections with the Israeli capital until Aug. 8, from a previous date of Aug. 6.

Several airlines have suspended or cancelled flights to Beirut in light of the regional instability.

(Reuters)

Norway's foreign minister said Thursday that Israel's decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Oslo's envoys to the Palestinian Authority was an "extreme action" that would "have consequences."

"Today's decision will have consequences for our relationship with the Netanyahu government. We are considering what measures Norway will take to respond to the situation that the Netanyahu government has now created," Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Nagasaki's mayor said Thursday it was "unfortunate" that US and British ambassadors have refused to attend a ceremony marking the 1945 atomic bombing of the Japanese city because Israel was snubbed.

But he defended the decision not to invite Israel to Friday's annual event, repeating that it was "not political" but to avoid possible protests related to the Gaza conflict.

"It is unfortunate that they have communicated to us that their ambassadors are not able to attend," Shiro Suzuki told reporters.

"We made a comprehensive decision not for political reasons. We want to conduct a smooth ceremony in a peaceful and solemn environment."

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Thursday that at least 39,699 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, which is now in its 11th month.

The toll includes 22 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to ministry figures, which also list 91,722 people as having been wounded in the Gaza Strip since 7 October.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Thursday the diplomatic status of Norwegian envoys to the Palestinian Authority would be revoked over Oslo's "anti-Israel behaviour" since the war on Gaza began in October.

"I ordered the termination of any representation on behalf of the Norwegian Embassy in Israel vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority", Katz said in a statement.

"There is a price for anti-Israel behaviour," the top diplomat added, citing Norway's recent recognition of a Palestinian state and backing of a pending International Criminal Court case implicating Israeli leaders in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A separate statement mentioned "serious statements by senior Norwegian officials" that the foreign ministry viewed as anti-Israeli.

US military forces have struck at targets in Houthi-controlled Yemen in the past 24 hours, destroying two drones, a Houthi ground control station, and three anti-ship cruise missiles, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

Earlier, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it had attacked a container ship in the Red Sea and two US destroyers in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.

CENTCOM said in a statement on the US strikes: "These weapons presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region."

It said this "reckless and dangerous behavior" by the Houthis threatened regional stability, but it gave no further details and did not confirm that any US vessels had been attacked.

(Reuters) 

Israel should fully investigate instances of sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees by its soldiers, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday, calling for "zero tolerance" for perpetrators.

Asked about a video aired by Israel's Channel 12 that appeared to show soldiers taking a detainee out of sight of surveillance cameras to carry out abuses and about broader allegations of abuses against prisoners, Miller said US officials had reviewed the video.

“We have seen the video, and reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific. They ought to be investigated fully by the government of Israel, by the IDF," Miller said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

"There ought to be zero tolerance for sexual abuse, rape of any detainee, period. ... If there are detainees who have been sexually assaulted or raped, the government of Israel, the IDF need to fully investigate those actions and hold anyone responsible accountable to the full extent of the law.”

(Reuters)

Israel vowed to eliminate new Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the alleged mastermind of the 7 October attacks, with regional tensions threatening to boil over as the Gaza war entered its 10th month on Wednesday.

The naming of Sinwar to lead the Palestinian militant group came as Israel braced for potential Iranian retaliation over the killing of his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, last week in Tehran.

Speaking at a military base on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was "determined" to defend itself.

"We are prepared both defensively and offensively," he told new recruits.

Army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi vowed to "find him (Sinwar), attack him" and force Hamas to find another leader.

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a "blatant violation" of Iran's sovereignty.

The comment by the Saudi deputy foreign minister during an extraordinary meeting of members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was the first by the kingdom, the region's major power alongside Iran, since the killing of the Palestinian Islamist leader in the Iranian capital on 31 July.

The minister, Waleed Al-Khuraiji, added that Saudi Arabia rejects "any violation of the sovereignty of states or interference in the internal affairs of any country". 

(Reuters)

Reports of rape, torture and abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israel's military are deeply concerning, the White House said on Wednesday.

"It is essential that the rule of law and due process prevail," said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

The Israeli military, which runs some detention facilities where Palestinian prisoners have been held, has rejected allegations of systematic abuse.

(Reuters)

The European Union, France and the UK on Wednesday condemned a far-right Israeli minister for suggesting it would be "justified and moral" to starve two million Gazans to free scores of captives held in the Palestinian territory.

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

Smotrich's remarks sparked outrage in the international community, with the European Union saying the deliberate starvation of civilians was a "war crime".

"It demonstrates, once again, his contempt for international law and for basic principles of humanity," the EU said in a statement.

France also criticised Smotrich, expressing its "deep dismay at the scandalous remarks".

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy said on X that there "can be no justification for Minister Smotrich's remarks", and called on "the wider Israeli government to retract and condemn them".

The World Health Organisation will send more than one million polio vaccines to war-torn Gaza after the virus was detected in wastewater there, the UN agency's chief said Wednesday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference that health workers need freedom of movement in Gaza to administer the vaccines, saying that a ceasefire or at least a few days of calm, was essential to protect Gaza's children.

"WHO is sending more than 1 million polio vaccines which will be administered in the coming weeks," he said.