This blog has now closed. You can read all our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 1am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The US said Israel has “signed off” on a new temporary Gaza ceasefire proposal submitted to Hamas. Donald Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff “submitted a ceasefire proposal to Hamas that Israel backed,” the White House said on Thursday, adding that discussions are “ongoing”. Israel has not confirmed that it approved the new proposal.
Hamas said the new Israeli-backed US truce plan “does not meet any of our people’s demands.” Israel’s response “in essence means the continuation of killing and famine,” a senior Hamas official said, adding that the group’s leadership is studying the proposal “with full national responsibility”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a new evacuation warning covering a large area of northern Gaza late on Thursday. It calls for Palestinians residing in Al-Atatra, Jabalia, and the Gaza City neighbourhoods of Shujaiya and Al-Zaytun to head west, warning that these areas “will be considered dangerous combat zones” immediately.
Israeli forces are carrying out a “forced evacuation” of patients and medical staff inside Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, hospital officials said. Earlier on Thursday, the hospital said there were “still 97 people inside the hospital, including 13 patients and injured individuals, and 84 medical staff members”.
An Israeli airstrike on a house in central Gaza killed 22 people, including nine women and children, according to hospital officials. The airstrike hit a family home in Bureij, an urban refugee camp in central Gaza, they said. Israeli strikes in northern Gaza late Wednesday and early Thursday hit a house, killing eight people, including two women and three children, and a car in Gaza City, killing four, local hospitals said.
The latest Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reached 54,249 on Thursday, according to figures by the territory’s health ministry. The majority of those killed are women and children.
The UN criticised Israel’s announcement that it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, describing the decision as moving “in the wrong direction”. A UN spokesperson repeated calls by UN chief António Guterres for Israel to “cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.” A UK minister said Britain “condemns these actions”, adding that settlements are “illegal under international law, further imperil the two-state solution, and do not protect Israel.”
Italy has offered to treat a Palestinian child who survived an Israeli strike in Gaza in which nine of his siblings were killed. Adam Al-Najjar, 11, is in serious condition in Nasser hospital. His mother, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, a paediatric specialist, was treating victims of ongoing Israeli attacks when she received the bodies of nine of her children killed by a strike in Khan Younis. The eldest of her children was 12.
A vigil was held in central London on Thursday to remember the thousands of children killed in Gaza in the last 19 months. The names of more than 16,000 children were read out outside the Palace of Westminster as part of the Choose Love-organised campaign to “honour” those killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza. Up to 20,000 children are also reported as missing in Gaza, organisers said.
Two people were killed in separate Israeli attacks on south Lebanon on Thursday, the country’s health ministry said, in the latest flare-up despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The ministry said an Israeli strike hit a forested area in Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa, killing one man, while Israeli gunfire on the border town of Kfar Kila killed another.
The Israeli army said that it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday. The missile interception comes two days after Israeli forces said it intercepted a missile and another projectile fire from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The former British ambassador to Egypt urged the UK to advise its citizens against travelling to Egypt, in response to Cairo’s refusal to release dual British Egyptian national Alaa Abd el-Fattah. A UN panel found on Wednesday that Fattah had been held arbitrarily in jail since 2019, but Egypt was refusing to give the UK consular access – let alone release him.
