Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Closing summary
The Guardian’s live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East is coming to a close. Here’s a round-up of today’s key events:
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that ceasefire efforts in Gaza are now focused on a comprehensive deal that would release the remaining hostages all at once, rather than in phases. “I want all of them,” he said of the hostages. “The release of all the hostages, both alive and dead – that’s the stage we’re at.” He added that Israel’s demands haven’t changed, and that the war will end only when all hostages are returned and Hamas has surrendered.
The Israeli military said that chief of staff Eyal Zamir has approved the “main concept” for an attack plan in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports. There are no further details yet, but we bring you updates when we get them. The approval of the plan amid a rift between Israel’s political leaders and its military commanders.
A Hamas official said that Israeli forces were making “aggressive” incursions into Gaza City on Wednsday, after the military approved the framework for a new offensive in the territory. “The Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out aggressive incursions in Gaza City,” Ismail Al-Thawabta, director general of the Hamas government media office in Gaza.
Israeli gunfire killed at least 25 people seeking aid Wednesday, health officials and witnesses said. Witnesses and staff at Nasser and Awda hospitals, which received the bodies, said people were killed on their way to aid distribution sites and while awaiting convoys entering the strip.
The Israeli military said it struck a group of militants in Gaza who were disguised as aid workers and using a car with the logo of international charity World Central Kitchen. The charity confirmed that the men and the vehicle were not affiliated with it. “We strongly condemn anyone posing as World Central Kitchen or other humanitarians, as this endangers civilians and aid workers,” it said in a statement.
Palestinian officials said an Israeli settler shot and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, AFP reports, while the IDF confirmed an off-duty soldier shot someone it said was throwing rocks.
The confrontation marks the latest fatal clash in the Palestinian territory, where violence has surged since the start of the Gaza war.
“Thameen Khalil Reda Dawabsheh (35 years old) was killed by settler gunfire in the town of Duma, south of Nablus,” the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said in a statement.
Contacted by AFP, Duma village council head Suleiman Dawabsheh said that a confrontation broke out when a group of Israeli settlers trespassed on land north of the town while farmers worked on their land.
