Israel’s war on Gaza updates: Displaced Palestinians ‘terrified’

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You can read about how the Israeli army used the “Hannibal Directive” during the October 7 Hamas attack, here.

You can also read about Labour Party leader Keir Starmer’s comments regarding Israel’s war on Gaza and how his electoral victory may impact the UK’s stance on the conflict, here.

And for all of our coverage of the Gaza conflict, click here.

We’ll be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s main events:

• Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 40 people over the past day, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged territory.
• WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the al-Ahli Arab Hospital and the Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital in Gaza City are now out of service.
• Senior US officials are in Cairo for talks to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but gaps still remain between the sides, according to the White House.
• Hamas has said that while it is trying to showcase “flexibility and positivity” to reach a ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu continues to create “obstacles”.
• Yemen’s Houthis have claimed a joint military operation with Iran-backed Iraqi militia, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which targeted Israel’s port city of Eilat with “a number of drones”.

The Israeli army said that it had struck “several terrorists” in central Gaza who it claims were using a school in the Nuseirat area as “cover”.

“A short while ago, based on intelligence and using precise munition, the IAF struck several terrorists who were conducting terrorist activities, using the structures of a school in the area of Nuseirat as cover,” the army said in a statement, referring to the Israeli Air Force.

A source at the al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat told the AFP news agency that it had received several wounded people for treatment after an attack on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Israeli forces have shot a man in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya, the Wafa news agency reports.

The Palestinian man, who was shot in the thigh, has been taken to a hospital in Jenin for treatment, according to Wafa.

Israeli troops, accompanied by a large number of vehicles, bulldozers and reconnaissance aircraft, have also stormed the city of Tulkarem, while fighting has been reported between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem.

The UN says at least 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have been orphaned or separated from their parents, with many now being looked after by relatives.

One grandmother, mourning the loss of her daughter, recounts how she took her granddaughter to her mother’s grave. The child, who was found to have skull and facial fractures, constantly asks about her deceased family, who were all killed in a bombing.

Another woman who evacuated to search for her husband, only to be killed by the Israeli army, has left behind four boys and a girl. Her sister, who cares for the children, describes their struggle for food and support.

Al Jazeera’s Bisan Owda reports from Gaza:

Israeli settlers have attacked vehicles belonging to Palestinians in a town south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.

A group of settlers threw stones towards the vehicles in the town of Huwara, it said. No injuries were reported.

Settler attacks against Palestinians and their property have increased in scale and intensity since October 7. More than 1,000 settler attacks have been reported since, according to UN figures.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that the al-Ahli Arab Hospital and the Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society Hospital in Gaza City are now out of service.

“Patients either self-evacuated, were given early discharge or referred to Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals, which are suffering shortage[s] of fuel, beds and trauma medical supplies,” Tedros said in a post on X.

He said reports on new evacuation orders in Gaza City will further impede the delivery of “very limited life-saving care”.

Other health facilities in the area remain functional but could “quickly become non-functional due to hostilities in their vicinity or obstruction to access”, he warned.

There’s really no safe corner in #Gaza. The latest reports on evacuation orders in Gaza City will further impede delivery of very limited life saving care.

Al-Ahli and Patient Friendly hospitals are out of service. Patients either self-evacuated, were given early discharge or…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) July 8, 2024

France’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s recent decision to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The ministry particularly condemned, in an official statement, “the official recognition of five new settlements and the approval of plans to build 5,000 extra residential units in several settlements in the West Bank, as well as the seizure of 1,200 hectares [2,965 acres]” in the Jordan Valley.

The Israeli government’s decisions are “of a deep gravity due to their scales and their consequences on peace and stability in the West Bank and the region”, the ministry added.

New York University has settled a lawsuit by Jewish students who accused the school of failing to stop anti-Semitism on campus, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan federal court has said.

The terms of the settlement were not immediately available and NYU, its lawyers and the students’ lawyers did not immediately respond to requests by the Reuters news agency for comment.

The settlement was announced the same day Brown University agreed to bolster nondiscrimination training for employees and students to resolve a complaint filed with the US Department of Education over its handling of discrimination and harassment claims, including those related to anti-Semitism.

NYU was sued last November, in one of the earliest of the now-many lawsuits accusing major universities of allowing anti-Semitism following October 7.

In seeking a dismissal, NYU argued that reports of anti-Semitism had declined significantly following an initial surge immediately after Israel’s assault on Gaza began. It also said it had taken far more steps than the law required to address student concerns, including adopting a “10 Point Plan” to boost on-campus security and disciplining people who violate its anti-discrimination policies.

The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) has confirmed that the Palau-flagged cargo vessel Verbena, which was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis on June 13, has been towed away from its threat area and is en route to its next port of call.

At the time, we reported that the Verbena was hit by missiles while it was transiting the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis later claimed responsibility for the attack.

As a result, the cargo vessel caught fire and the crew was unable to contain it. The vessel had taken on water after the crew was rescued and transported to safety, the US Central Command said, adding that one crew member was injured in the attack.

The Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea since November, in what they say is in solidarity with Palestinians.

The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has said it entered an agreement with Brown University to make sure the school is in compliance with federal law barring discrimination and harassment against students of Jewish, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim ancestry.

According to an investigation, the school received some 75 reports of alleged anti-Jewish, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim harassment against students from October 2023 to late March 2024, but appeared to take no or little action, other than to acknowledge receipt of the reports, list support resources and request to meet with the those making the complaints.

The Office of Civil Rights investigation confirmed that the university has since taken what it described as notable steps to support a nondiscriminatory campus environment, including providing student and staff workshops on combating anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate.

The university also revised its practices, including focusing on protecting the safety of its community, in particular, the needs and safety of its students, faculty and staff who are Israeli, Palestinian, Muslim, Jewish, have ties to Palestine or Israel, and are feeling affected by Israeli war in Gaza.

In the neighbourhood located in the southern part of Gaza City, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, says its fighters have:

• targeted foot soldiers “with an anti-personnel device in the ‘Chalets area’, leaving some dead and others wounded”
• destroyed a military jeep with al-Yassin 105 rocket on al-Sinaa Street
• struck a Merkava 4 tank with an IED.
• clashed with a group of soldiers, leaving some killed and others wounded, in the industrial area of Tal al-Hawa.

Gaza’s government media office has warned families in Gaza City not to follow Israeli evacuation orders and flee to the south of the enclave, saying it would jeopardise their safety.

In a statement, it said the evacuation orders were “false” and their objective was to lead them towards “death traps, killings, and field executions”.

It said “dozens of field executions” previously took place to those who attempted to flee via the al-Rashid Street, as well as via Salah al-Din Street – a road stretching across the length of Gaza.

During previous evacuation orders, Israeli forces called on Palestinians to flee towards the centre and the south of the enclave, then “executed citizens in cold blood as soon as they arrived at the military checkpoints, and put them in prison”, the statement read.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says it has reopened a health centre in southern Gaza’s ravaged city of Khan Younis after it was “severely damaged”.

The facility sustained damage in January, UNRWA said in a post on X.

It added that there are no other health facilities in the area, and that the clinic is “crucial to support the displaced families that moved back in the area looking for shelter”.

Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital was forced to shut services down as generators ran out of fuel days ago.

There is currently only one hospital that is partially functioning in southern Gaza.

There have been repeated attacks on Khan Younis, Rafah and al-Mawasi in the south of the enclave, all of which had previously been designated as so-called humanitarian “safe zones” by Israel.

Our staff in Khan Younis managed to reopen an @UNRWA health centre after it was severely damaged in January

As there are no other health facilities in this part of Khan Younis the clinic is crucial to support the displaced families that moved back in the area looking for shelter pic.twitter.com/7Zxlw2dr85

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 8, 2024

Yemen’s Houthis have claimed carrying out a joint military operation with an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, targeting Israel’s port city of Eilat using “a number of drones”.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the operation has “successfully achieved its objectives”.

He said the group will continue to carry out joint military operations “in support of and in solidarity” with the Palestinian people.

Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) spokesperson Nebal Farsakh has expressed concern about “continuous displacement of nearly two million people” in the Gaza Strip.

“Nowhere in Gaza is safe, there is no way for people to leave, even those who are sick or injured,” Farsakh said in a video statement posted on X.

Families are still relying on inadequate aid, she said, amid a lack of access to food and water and as health risks mount due to “overcrowding”.

Urgent international action needed, the PRCS said.

Nebal Farsakh, PRCS Spokesperson
Gaza’s crisis worsens: 2 million displaced, no safe place, scarce aid, and dire health risks. Nine months on, urgent international action needed. #Gaza #IHL pic.twitter.com/0IoauM3sQ4

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 8, 2024

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says Israel can do more to protect civilians in Gaza amid its continued bombardment of the enclave.

“[The] Israelis have taken some steps to be more precise, more discriminate and more careful in their operations. Is it enough? No. So we’re going to keep at it, we’re going to keep working on this,” Kirby said.

Pressed on what concrete steps the administration of US President Joe Biden is taking to pressure Israel to do more, Kirby responded: “It’s never right to be conducting indiscriminate bombing of a civilian population.”

“That’s why we continue to work with the Israelis to be more precise, to be more careful.”

Senior US officials are in Cairo for talks to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but gaps still remain between the two sides, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby said CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk were in Egypt, meeting with their Egyptian, Israeli and Jordanian counterparts, adding that there will be “follow-on discussions” in the next few days.

The comments come as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh warned that ongoing Israeli military attacks in Gaza could push talks back to square one. In a call with mediators, Haniyeh said he held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s army fully responsible for the potential collapse of negotiations, a statement by the group said.

Let’s bring you up to speed with the latest developments:

• Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh says that Israel’s military attacks in Gaza could push mediated ceasefire talks back to square one.
• Hamas says that while it is trying to showcase “flexibility and positivity” in its position to reach a ceasefire agreement, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to place “obstacles” to hinder the process.
• A group representing the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza has urged Netanyahu to postpone his speech to the US Congress until a deal to release their relatives is signed.
• Canada has urged the Israeli government to reverse a decision to approve new settlement outposts in the West Bank, saying the move was in contravention of international law.
• Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian has sent a message to Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, saying resistance movements across the region will not allow Israel’s “criminal policies” towards the Palestinians to continue.
• The Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East has protested the closure of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City as a result of the evacuation of several residential districts ordered by the Israeli military.

Mahmoud Basal, civil defense spokesman in Gaza, warns that the reality on the ground is “very difficult and bitter” as Israeli ground forces continue to push into Gaza City and the Shujayea neighbourhood from the eastern part of the enclave.

In a statement on Telegram, Basal said thousands of displaced Palestinians have fled to the western part of Gaza City as Israeli forces close in on the Tuffah and Daraj neighbourhoods.

“Scenes of displaced Palestinians are tragic. They do not know where to go, as there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “The situation is very difficult on all levels.”

Basal said these areas are still coming under Israeli bombardment “until this very moment”. Bakeries in Gaza City have all been forced to shut down, affecting Palestinian families in the area.

He also said many in Gaza’s Old City are now fearful that new advancements by Israeli forces may halt their ability to reach Al-Ahli Arab Hospital if needed.

Bassal added that bodies of slain Palestinians and many more who are wounded remain trapped in areas that are unreachable by civil defence crews.