The day so far
It has just gone 6.46pm in Gaza and 7.46pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut. We will be pausing this blog, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.
Here is a recap of the latest developments:
The White House warned on Friday that the prospect of an Iranian attack on Israel is “still a viable threat”. This comes as the US sought to deter Iran with concerted declarations of commitment to Israeli security, but also restricted the movements of its diplomats in Israel over security fears. “We are in constant communication with our Israeli counterparts about making sure that they can defend themselves against those kinds of attacks,” said John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson.
The first trucks carrying food aid have entered Gaza through the newly opened northern crossing point on Thursday, the Israeli military said on Friday. It said the trucks were inspected at the Kerem Shalom crossing point on the border with Egypt before moving north to cross.
France on Friday warned its citizens to “imperatively refrain from travel in the coming days to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories”, the foreign minister’s entourage told Agence France-Presse (AFP). France’s foreign minister, Stéphane Séjourné, at a crisis meeting also asked that family members of French diplomats in Iran be evacuated, and no French civil servants be sent on missions to the listed countries.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said on Friday she had spoken with her Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and urged his nation to “use its influence in the region to promote stability, not contribute to escalation”. “Australia is deeply concerned by indications Iran is preparing military action against Israel,” she said in a post on X. “Further conflict will only add to the devastation in the Middle East.” Wong also called on Iran to push Hamas towards an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and a hostage release.
India advised its citizens on Friday against travelling to Iran and Israel until further notice in view of the “prevailing situation in the region”. India’s foreign ministry said its citizens in the two countries should observe “utmost precautions about their safety and restrict their movements to the minimum”.
Poland’s government on Friday called the killing of a Polish aid worker by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza “murder”, and said the case should be brought before an independent court in Israel. Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, Poland’s deputy foreign minister, said Poland is demanding compensation from Israel over the death of Polish volunteer Damian Soból, 35, who was killed along with six other workers of the World Central Kitchen charity in an Israeli airstrike.
Germany will face a fresh call to revoke all arms sales to Israel on Thursday in a lawsuit that puts more pressure on Berlin amid a rising outcry about the scale of deaths and destruction in the war on Gaza. The lawsuit has been issued by four human rights groups on behalf of five named Palestinians who say they are in fear of their lives in Gaza, and are suffering a form of collective punishment by Israel.
Residents reported heavy Israeli fire in central Gaza on Friday. Authorities reported dozens of new airstrikes in Gaza’s central region. The Hamas media office said 25 people were taken to hospital in Deir al-Balah city “as a result of an airstrike on a house of the al-Tabatibi family”. Israel’s military said its aircraft had struck more than 60 militant targets in Gaza over the previous day.
Unicef spokesperson Tess Ingram says she was on an aid mission on Tuesday when the UN-marked, armoured Toyota LandCruiser she was in was shot, she told ABC News on Friday. Ingram, an Australian citizen, said the IDF and Hamas were aware of the convoy’s movements as part of the mission, but she did not see the source of the gunfire. “It appeared to come from the direction of the checkpoint towards civilians who then turned and ran in the other direction,” she said.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians, including a member of the armed wing of Hamas, near Tubas in the occupied West Bank after a raid on the town earlier in the morning, the Israeli military said. It said Mohammad Omar Daraghmeh, whom it described as the head of Hamas infrastructure in the Tubas area of the Jordan valley, was killed during an exchange of fire with security forces. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces conducting a raid in Al-Fara refugee camp in Tubas. Hamas said it mourned the man’s death but did not claim him as a member.
China urged the US to play “a constructive role” in the Middle East on Friday after its top diplomat, Wang Yi, spoke with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, over the phone. Blinken used the call to ask Beijing to use its influence to dissuade Iran from striking Israel, the US Department of State said.
Hundreds of ultra-orthodox men and boys clashed with Israeli police on Thursday evening at a demonstration in Jerusalem against plans to end the community’s sweeping exemption from military service. Thousands of men had arrived, many with young sons in tow, to say prayers and hear speeches under a banner reading “don’t touch the yeshivot [religious schools]” down the street from a conscription office.
At least 33,634 Palestinians have been killed and 76,214 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas. This includes 89 Palestinians who were killed and 120 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Hamas has indicated it does not have 40 captives who are still alive who meet the “humanitarian” criteria for a proposed hostages-for-prisoners ceasefire agreement with Israel. A senior Israeli official confirmed claims made at the weekend by Hamas during talks in Cairo that it does not have 40 hostages in Gaza who meet the exchange criteria.
An assessment conducted by a UN team in Khan Younis after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the area has reported “widespread destruction”. Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said: “Street and public spaces in Khan Younis are littered with unexploded ordnance posing a severe risk to civilians, especially for children. Our team found unexploded 1,000-pound bombs lying on the main intersection and inside schools.”
A Turkish state television journalist was badly injured and another slightly hurt in Gaza on Friday, the TRT channel said, adding that the team had been targeted by an Israeli strike. “The vehicle of a team from TRT Arabi [TRT’s Arabic-language channel] that was preparing to broadcast from the Nuseirat camp … was targeted by an Israeli army strike,” the broadcaster said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). It called the attack “Israeli brutality” and said that Sami Shahada, a freelance cameraman, had “lost a foot and is currently in surgery”.
The UK government’s continued refusal to suspend arms sales to Israel is inconsistent with previous wars and could make it complicit in war crimes, Oxfam has warned. Writing ahead of an open letter that the charity is delivering to ministers, Oxfam said: “The prime minister and the foreign secretary have repeatedly defended the UK’s decision to continue arms sales. Yet in every previous escalation of violence in Gaza and against Palestinians in the region, the UK has at least revoked some licenses or otherwise suspended arms transfers to Israel.”
Scotland’s migration minister has urged the government to expand the number of Palestinian people who can join their family in the UK. In a letter to UK minister Tom Pursglove, Emma Roddick pushed for the Refugee Family Reunion scheme to include “immediate and extended family, including parents, children over 18, siblings and their children”. The current system allows only for partners and children under 18 to join family in the UK.
The NGO Action for Humanity projected slogans calling for a ceasefire on to Tower Bridge in London, alongside the Save the Children charity, on Thursday evening. The projection read: “Over 14,000 children killed in Gaza. What are you waiting for? Stop arming Israel. Ceasefire now.”
Updated
Iran reportedly told other Arab countries last week that US bases in the region will be attacked if the US gets involved in any fighting concerning Iran and Israel, Axios first reported.
Three US officials told Axios that Iran communicated the message to other Arab nations and views the US as responsible for a previous Israeli attack that killed an Iranian general in Damascus.
Iran has thus threatened to attack US bases if the US further involves itself.
One US official told Axios:
The Iranian message was we will attack the forces that attack us, so don’t f--k with us and we won’t f--k with you …
In response, the US has reportedly asked Israel to have a say before any attacks are launched against Iran.
From Axios:
US officials say the Biden administration asked Israel to notify the US and for the US to have a say before decisions are made about any retaliation by Israel.
Read the full report here.
Updated
