This blog is now closed. Here is a summary of today's events:
A senior Hamas official on Saturday dismissed optimistic talk by US President Joe Biden that a Gaza truce is nearer after negotiations in the Gulf emirate of Qatar.
An SNP MSP has had the whip removed following “utterly abhorrent” comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that at least 40,074 Palestinians have been killed in the war. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 Hamas militants, without providing evidence.
The number of people from the same family who died in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Saturday has now been put at 18 by the Associated Press.
The threat of polio is rising fast in the Gaza Strip, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak.
The death toll following an Israeli strike in the city of Nabatieh city in south Lebanon has risen to 10, according to the country’s state news agency.
New evacuation orders have been issued by Israel’s military spokesperson for people in parts of central Gaza to evacuate to a designated humanitarian zone.
Next week’s Democratic convention will put the capstone on the dramatic turnaround. Harris and running mate Tim Walz, who have been drawing huge crowds at rallies and millions of dollars in donations, will be formally nominated and deliver the most important speeches of their careers – probably resulting in a further polling bump.
But the carefully stage-managed event – also featuring Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and A-list celebrities – could yet go off script. Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are expected to gather outside to demand that the US end military aid to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 40,000, according to the healthy ministry there.
Read how the Chicago event will occur amid striking parallels with the 1968 protests:
