Closing summary
An Israeli official has criticised US vice-president Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic party nominee for the presidency, after she said it was time for the war in Gaza to end given the suffering being caused by the fighting. Harris’ remarks at a press conference following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reflect the growing pressure on Netanyahu from different sides of the political spectrum to reach a deal with Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Britain said on Friday it would not proceed with efforts to question whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) has jurisdiction to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. In May, the ICC’s prosecutor said he had requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit former US president Donald Trump at Trump’s Florida resort on Friday, a meeting that could ease recent tensions between leaders who forged a close alliance during Trump’s years in the White House. Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 US presidential race, comes a day after meetings in Washington with Democratic president Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump.
The prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand have declared that a ceasefire in Gaza is “needed desperately” and urged Israel to “listen to the concerns of the international community”. In a strongly worded joint statement issued on Friday, the three leaders said they were “gravely concerned about the prospect of further escalation across the region”, including between Hezbollah and Israel.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to reduce rations for families in Gaza to ensure broader coverage for newly displaced people, it said on Friday. “Food stocks and humanitarian supplies in central and southern Gaza are very limited and barely any commercial supplies are going in,” WFP added in a post on social media platform X.
A Hamas leader in the West Bank has died in Israeli custody after a deterioration in his health condition, a Palestinian governmental body has said. Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after being transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs said in a statement.
That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and the Israel-Gaza war live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
The polio virus was detected in wastewater samples in Gaza last week, an alarming yet unsurprising development given the dismantled state of the territory’s health systems after nine relentless months of war.
Across Gaza, more than 39,000 people have been killed, 89,000 wounded, and more than 10,000 are estimated to be missing. Most hospitals are no longer able to function. Already, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections and hepatitis A, among others, are raging through Gaza. Nearly everyone in Gaza is facing acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger. Thousands of children are malnourished, making them even more susceptible to disease.
About 2.3 million people live in the 365 sq km (141 sq mile) Gaza Strip, which has become even more concentrated amid limited access to clean and safe water, and deteriorating sanitary conditions.
