Here is a summary of today's events
Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau, elevating the hardline militant to the group’s top post after the assassination in Tehran of its previous political leader.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Tuesday that it was up to Sinwar to help achieve a ceasefire as he “has been and remains the primary decider”.
The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders Wednesday for an area in northern Gaza that was heavily bombed at the start of the war some 10 months ago.
More than 39,677 Palestinians have been killed and 91,645 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday, 10 Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Reuters reports.
Turkey was due to submit on Wednesday a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, a diplomatic source told Reuters.
Reuters has spoken to a Palestinian girl whose blinding ended her hopes of becoming a doctor or teacher. Maisa al-Ghandour was blinded almost two weeks ago in an Israeli strike in war-ravaged Gaza.
“Now, I wish to die. We are not living a life in Gaza anymore; we are just hoping to die, our lives have become death,” said Maisa, aged 14.
Maisa was wounded in an Israeli artillery strike at Eilabun High School in Al-Karara town, east of Gaza’s Khan Younis city, on July 26, the family said.
“There are shrapnel fragments in our chests, abdomens, and faces,” Maisa said, referring to wounds also suffered by sister Yara, 9, and brother Mohammed, 11.
“I hope we can go outside (of Gaza) to receive treatment because there are no medicines here.”
