Summary of the day
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
A new round of Gaza ceasefire talks was under way in Doha on Thursday in an effort to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of scores of hostages. The US, Qatar and Egypt were due to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar. Hamas is not expected to participate directly but has agreed in principle to a proposal put forward by the US which has international support.
The White House said the Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar involving top US officials had a “promising start” but that it did not expect to close a deal immediately. US national security council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the talks opened in Doha involved CIA director William Burns.
Gaza’s health ministry said 40,005 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza following the 7 October attack by Hamas last year. In an update on Thursday, the ministry said 92,401 Palestinians had been injured. The majority of casualties are civilians, though Gaza’s health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures.
The UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, said the death toll in Gaza passing 40,000 is a “grim milestone”. Türk accused the Israeli army to repeatedly failing to “comply with the rules of war”. The numbers do not necessarily reflect all victims as many are still missing under the rubble, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The international charity ActionAid said it was “outraged and heartbroken” following the news that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s offensive. It accused “most governments across the world” of having “refused to do the bare minimum to protect civilian life”, adding that it is “to our collective shame”.
The Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank said Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the occupied territory. The ministry identified the men killed as Wael Misha, 18, and Ahmed Khalil, 20. The Israeli military said aircraft killed two gunmen who were identified as a threat to troops operating in the city of Nablus.
Britain’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, is reportedly planning an imminent trip to Israel amid high tensions with Iran in an attempt to help avert an escalation of war in the Middle East. Lammy will reportedly meet Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Israel Katz, the foreign minister, along with Stéphane Séjourné, the French foreign minister.
The UK Foreign Office did not confirm Lammy’s visit but a statement from the foreign secretary said it was a “crucial moment for global stability” and that the “coming hours and days could define the future of the Middle East”. A statement from Séjourné said a ceasefire in Gaza was “necessary” for peace in the region including Lebanon.
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said he planned to visit Gaza and Jerusalem. Abbas’s speech at the Turkish parliament came after he met with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Wednesday to discuss the war and ceasefire efforts.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied a report that he spoke with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump about the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks. “Contrary to media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak yesterday with former President Donald Trump,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
Dozens of far-right Israeli activists tried to break into the Gaza Strip on Thursday to conduct a Jewish prayer service, but were stopped by security services. Earlier this year the US and EU sanctioned some Israeli settler groups and key individuals associated with them for their role in extremist violence against Palestinians.
Nearly 400 Hezbollah fighters and senior commanders have been killed in the 10 months of cross-border violence between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, according to AFP, as well as at least 118 civilians. On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to military figures.
The US issued more sanctions targeting Houthi and Hezbollah trade networks, the US treasury department said. The department said it targeted companies, individuals and vessels accused of being involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities, including oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates on behalf of a Houthi financial official’s network.
The UK deputy representative to the UN, James Kariuki, condemned alleged links between Yemen’s Houthis and the al-Qaida-affiliated armed group in Somalia, al-Shabaab. Kariuki, at a UN security council meeting, described the connections as part of a “wider pattern of Houthi destabilising activity” in the region and called on UN sanctions committees to counter “this worrying trend”.
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Israel's former war cabinet minister tells Netanyahu to 'stop worrying about fate of government'
Israel’s former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has urged the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that it is time to “be brave” and stop worrying only about himself.
Gantz, in a video statement reported by the Jerusalem Post said:
It is possible and necessary to achieve achievements now. Netanyahu, at first, you were afraid to manoeuvre, then you were afraid to move the effort to the north, and for months, you were afraid to pursue a hostage plan for fear of the fate of the coalition.
“The time has come for you to stop worrying about the fate of the government and only concern yourself with the fate of the country. For once, be brave,” he concluded.
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