Summary of the day …
The US and 17 other countries including the UK, France and Germany, calling for the release of hostages by Hamas, and saying that there is a deal on the table that offers “an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza” in return. In the letter they write “The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern. We emphasise that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza.”
Briefing the media about the letter, a senior US administration official said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had prioritised holding on to the hostages over securing a ceasefire. They said “Hamas is holding hostages, they are releasing videos of the hostages and refusing to let the hostages go back to their families. And if they would do that, this crisis will wind down. It’s just a very clear path.”
Israel appears to be readying to send troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the only corner of the strip that has not seen fierce ground fighting and where more than half of the Palestinian territory’s population of 2.3 million has sought shelter. Haaretz reported “The Israeli army has informed the government that its forces have completed their preparations for an upcoming operation in Rafah, and that the date for such an operation is to be decided by the cabinet.”
An aid worker who was part of Belgium’s development aid efforts has been killed by an Israeli strike on Gaza, the country’s development minister, Caroline Gennez, said on Thursday. The statement said at least seven people were killed by the strike on a building that housed about 25 people, including displaced people from other parts of the Gaza Strip. “The indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians goes against every international and humanitarian law and the rules of war”, Gennez said. More than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
At least 34,305 Palestinians have been killed and 77,293 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-led Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. That number includes 43 deaths in the last 24 hours. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
16-year-old Khaled Raed Arouq was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a raid in Ramallah, reports Palestinian news agency Wafa. A boy has also been injured during an Israeli security force raid in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.
Both US Centcom and the Greek defence ministry have reported that their forces have intercepted or shot down drones or missiles believed to have been fired at commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
A row has taken place in the House of Lords in London – the unelected second chamber of the British parliament – after a minister refused to answer what they described as a “deeply inappropriate” question about British Jews and Israel.
Journalist and broadcaster Lord Singh of Wimbledon asked:
Would the minister agree that it would enhance the image and security of the wonderful Jewish people if the Jewish people in this country were to issue a strong statement disassociating themselves from the policies of the Netanyahu government, the atrocities that have been committed on the people of Gaza, who are also human?
Instead of that, the Board of Deputies has unfortunately sent a delegation to Tel Aviv, showing solidarity for what the Netanyahu government. Atrocities include the destroying of hospitals and the firing on aid convoys, killing even British people.”
In reply, PA Media reports Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom replied:
I think that’s a deeply inappropriate question and I’m not going to stoop so low as to answer it.
Conservative peer Baroness Altmann, who is Orthodox Jewish, said later in the debate that the British Jewish community have “no responsibility for the actions of an overseas government”.
The unelected upper chamber were discussing plans to enhance the safety of London’s Jewish community amid a rise in antisemitic abuse.
