Three killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City: Report

Two of the killings and several injuries have taken place in the vicinity of the al-Amal Hotel in the western part of Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.

Local sources told the agency that the Israeli strike targeted a group of civilians gathered in the area.

One person was also killed and several injured in a drone attack near Abu Hasira Street, in western part of Gaza City, the agency reported.

Palestinians protest death of West Bank Hamas leader inside Israeli prison

Palestinians have rallied in Aqqaba near Tubas in the occupied West Bank to condemn the death of a Hamas leader in Israeli custody, Reuters reports.

Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after he was transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel due to deteriorating health, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Palestinian Commission for Detainees Affairs said in a statement.

Abu Ara, who was from Aqqaba, was arrested in October last year and subjected to torture and deprived of medical treatment, the organisations said. He is the 19th detainee known to have died in Israeli custody since October 7.

Gaza ministry condemns death of Hamas leader in Israeli custody

The Ministry of Detainees in the besieged coastal enclave says Mustafa Abu Ara died in Israeli custody “due to torture and deliberate medical negligence”.

Since October 7, Israeli authorities have subjected Palestinian detainees to “inhumane detention conditions and systematic assault”, the ministry said, calling it “an ugly slow death that is happening undetected” by international organisations.

The ministry also said it has documented “eyewitness statements and testimonies by released prisoners that are shocking and horrifying, and are tantamount to crimes against humanity”.

These include the use of prisoners as human shields and the killing of others using bulldozers during the detention process. Inside prison, detainees are subject to overcrowding, the spread of infectious diseases, lack of adequate food and no access to lawyers.

Son of deceased Hamas leader blames conditions of Israeli detention for death

Zeid Abu Ara, the son of Hamas leader Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, who died in Israeli detention, has blamed Israel for the death of his father.

“The full responsibility lies on those who arrested him, knowing his medical history,” Abu Ara told Al Jazeera.

“He’s a sick prisoner who suffers from many health problems. The arrest of a person without providing the necessary medical services and the appropriate food is to be considered an execution.”

Israeli army says three rockets fired at Ashkelon from Gaza

The Israeli army says three rockets have been fired from Gaza at the southern city of Ashkelon.

One has been shot down while two fell in an open area, it said on X. No casualties were reported.

Israel army says readying ‘decisive’ push against Hezbollah

An Israeli military commander says troops in the country’s north are preparing for “a decisive offensive” against the Lebanese group after months of deadly cross-border exchanges.

Israeli forces have traded near-daily fire with Hezbollah since October 8.

Major General Ori Gordin, Israel’s commanding officer in the north, told soldiers, “We have already eliminated more than 500 terrorists in Lebanon, the great majority of them from Hezbollah,” according to a statement released by the army.

According to an AFP tally, at least 523 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war in Gaza began. Most of them, 342 people, were reportedly Hezbollah fighters, but the tally also includes 104 civilians. Gordin did not mention civilian casualties.

The exchanges of fire have been largely restricted to border areas and have displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israelis.

The Israeli military has “destroyed thousands” of targets across the border, Gordin said. He said soldiers were now preparing “for the transition to offence”. “When the moment comes and we go on the offensive, it will be a decisive offensive,” Gordin added.

Canada to revoke charitable status of Jewish National Fund

The Canada Revenue Agency is revoking the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Canada, according to Just Peace Advocates, a human rights group working for Palestinian rights.

The reason given is its “support for military infrastructure in Israel” despite CRA charity guidelines stating clearly that “supporting the armed forces of another country is not” charitable.

“While the Canada Revenue Agency has been too slow in applying its rules towards the Jewish National Fund of Canada, the CRA should be applauded for finally taking action against this powerful organisation,” said Karen Rodman of Just Peace Advocates.

The Jewish National Fund of Canada is one of many Israel-focused charities that have violated revenue agency rules.

Over the past 18 months, detailed complaints have been submitted to the agency asking it to investigate a dozen other Israel-focused charities.

UNRWA needs ‘political and financial support more than ever’

UNRWA needs “financial and political support now more than ever”, deputy UNRWA commissioner-general has told the United Nations in a briefing to the Security Council.

“UNRWA must continue to provide services until a political solution is at hand,” Antonia Marie De Meo said.

“This solution must also bring an end to the plight of Palestinian refugees,” she added.

The session was called for by Russia, China and Algeria to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

World has failed Palestinians, Palestine’s UN envoy says

Riyad Mansour has slammed the UN Security Council for failing to secure a ceasefire and bring an end to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

“We have collectively failed. This council has failed,” the Palestinian envoy said during a special council session on the humanitarian response in Gaza.

“We can continue counting aid trucks and speaking of routes and imagining alternatives, but the only true measure of our success is our ability to alleviate human suffering – and the suffering of Palestinians is Israel’s goal and desire,” Mansour said.

“Whatever solutions you come up with, [Israel] will continue ensuring they fail until it is forced to change course. And the first, indispensable step is an immediate ceasefire.”

Seems to be a theme with the UNSC, still failing in Ukraine as well.

Why is this guy not thrown out of the UN. I guess let him embarrass Israel for the word to see?

Israel’s UN ambassador says Israel will defend itself from those ‘who seek to annihilate us’

Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan began his address to the UNSC retelling the story of his family’s extermination at the hands of the Nazis.

“To this time of unfathomable hatred, we refer to as ‘never again’,” he said. “Yet, never again happened again.”

Erdan said this time the perpetrators of the October 7 attacks were “Hamas Nazis” who have the objective of exterminating the Jews.

He blamed Iran for fomenting hatred and argued that if Hitler could have had a profile on X, it would have looked like that of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“We will defend ourselves from those who seek to annihilate us,” he said.

Using Nazism analogy to describe Gaza war ‘not useful’: Palestinian official

Majed Bamya, deputy permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, has said that while the anger and outrage at the horrors Israel is inflicting on people in Gaza is legitimate, making historical comparisons with Nazism or Holocaust analogies should be avoided.

“I continue to believe that such historical comparisons are not useful. They do not enlighten minds nor further knowledge. On the contrary. There are many historical examples we can draw from without having to use the Nazism or the Holocaust analogy,” Bamya said in a post on X.

He also acknowledged that while many aspects of that particular historical era are relevant to the Gaza war, “shortcuts and un-nuanced parallels do not allow to draw the necessary lessons from the tragedies that occurred then.”

“As for the use of the Holocaust to justify atrocities, we have a duty to engage on that matter and reject such instrumentalisation and distortion. But we must do so with the utmost respect for the victims of the Holocaust, including the survivors, as we continue making ours the pledge ‘Never Again’, a pledge that is relevant regardless of the identity of the victims or the perpetrators."

I know that legitimate anger and outrage and the failure of words to grasp the scale of human suffering and the horrors Israel has inflicted upon the Palestinian people in Gaza create the temptation to make historical comparaisons aimed at generating as strong a reaction as…

— Ambassador Majed Bamya 🇵🇸 (@majedbamya) July 26, 2024

Netanyahu meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

The Israeli prime minister has shared photos and a short video of his arrival at the former US president’s estate in Florida.

In the video, Netanyahu hands Trump a framed photo of an Israeli child he said was being held in Gaza.

“We’ll get that taken care of,” Trump, who is seeking the White House again in November’s US election, replied.

בפגישה עם נשיא ארה״ב לשעבר, דונלד טראמפ 🇺🇸🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/mfXt0vfiPp

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) July 26, 2024

Trump seeking to present himself as peace-builder in Netanyahu talks

Donald Trump had to have this photo opportunity to project the fact that he could also be the man in the White House dealing with Prime Minister Netanyahu in just a few months’ time.

We had been told that this would be a closed meeting, but obviously because it’s such a big PR opportunity for Donald Trump and for Mr Netanyahu, those images, those videos, have been coming through, where we saw them at that table talking.

Remember, Donald Trump is trying to project himself as the man who will bring about world peace and peace in the Middle East.

For Netanyahu, this is a very strong relationship that he needs to bring back online because if Donald Trump does come back to the White House, he is going to be Israel’s main protector, main arms supplier.

Palestine’s Olympic team makes entry into Paris Games

The Palestinian athletes have just made their entry into the Olympic Games on a boat in the Seine.

Much support was shared for Palestine during the Asian Cup in Qatar earlier this year and a similar response during Paris 2024 is expected.

Biden thanks King Abdullah II for Jordan’s aid effort in Gaza

The US president has hailed Jordan’s “extraordinary humanitarian response” to the situation in Gaza, according to a White House readout of a call between the two leaders.

That assistance “has been critical in addressing the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza”, the White House said.

“The President updated King Abdullah on his ongoing efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal, and preparations for a surge in humanitarian assistance during a ceasefire period,” the readout continued.


_{Displaced Palestinians wait to receive for food in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on July 18}

Gaza aid ship from UAE docks in Egypt’s El Arish

The fourth and largest UAE aid ship for Gaza has docked in Egypt’s El Arish sea port.

The ship carries 5,300 tonnes of aid to Palestinians in Gaza as part of the UAE’s Operation Chivalrous Knight.

During his visit to El Arish, secretary-general of Emirates Red Crescent Authority Rashid al-Mansouri was received by Egypt’s North Sinai governor, Khaled Megawer.

Megawer said that 20 aid ships from different countries had docked in Arish, carrying 34,000 tonnes of aid.

Egyptian and UAE officials visited injured people from Gaza getting treatment at a UAE-operated floating hospital. The hospital’s medical director, Ahmed Mubarak, said that 42 injured Palestinians were being treated there, accompanied by 60 of their relatives.




Then the aid still needs to get to those who need it in Gaza

UN official urges increased protection for Gaza civilians, humanitarian staff

A United Nations official has underscored the dire conditions in Gaza and the challenge of delivering aid.

Muhannad Hadi, deputy special coordinator and resident and humanitarian coordinator of the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said protection is needed in Gaza for civilians and relief staff.

“Protection is urgently needed for the civilian population in Gaza, but also for the humanitarian operations,” he said. “Humanitarian staff and assets must be protected from all forms of violent attacks.

Hadi added that the inability to achieve the mandate was “beyond our control”.

Gaza mediators, Israel spy chief to meet in Rome: Egypt media

Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators are to meet Israeli negotiators in the Italian capital on Sunday in the latest push for a Gaza truce, Egyptian state-linked media has said.

“A four-way meeting between Egyptian officials and their American and Qatari counterparts, in the presence of Israel’s intelligence chief, will be held in Rome,” Al-Qahera news, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, reported, citing an unidentified senior official.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been involved in months of mediation efforts aimed at ending the Israeli war raging in the Gaza Strip for more than nine months.

Earlier, US news outlet Axios reported that CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to hold talks on the issue in Rome on Sunday with Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials.

The official quoted by Al-Qahera News said Egypt insists on “an immediate ceasefire” as part of the agreement, which should also “ensure the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza” and “safeguard the freedom of movement” of civilians in the Palestinian territory.

Cairo would also like to see a “complete [Israeli] withdrawal from the Rafah crossing” connecting Gaza to Egypt, the official added.

Islamic Jihad slams Palestinian Authority for attempt to detain fighter

The group has said that efforts to detain a fighter from its armed wing, al-Quds Brigades, in Tulkarem show that the security coordination between the PA and Israel has “crossed all red lines”.

Earlier, we reported that clashes broke out in the occupied West Bank town between PA security forces and Palestinian fighters, amid an attempt to arrest Mohammed Jaber, who is wanted by the Israeli military.

Al Jazeera reported that several people intervened to prevent the arrest of the man, also known as Abu Shuja’, as PA security surrounded the Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital.

“This incident hurts all attempts to achieve unity and national reconciliation,” said the group, in a statement on its official Telegram channel. “The ink has not yet dried on the reconciliation agreement in Beijing. Continuing down this path will only serve the enemy.”

On July 23, various Palestinian factions agreed to form a unity government at talks hosted by China in a deal meant to deliver a post-war Gaza administration.